Into The Coming Storm
by mojoboy31
Summary: One minute, Starkiller was absorbing the Emperor's lightning, slowly moving toward him. Then the next, he was waking up in a cell, weaker than he'd ever felt. He tried, but could not escape, and was punished severely. He was told that he was now the property of a very powerful gangster who thinks himself a king... Part Nine is finally here. Fresh off the press!
1. Part One

_Author's note._

_I'm bad at summaries._

_I own only the ideas in my head. _

_I do not own anything Star Wars..._

* * *

Whispers.

All he can hear are whispers.

He walks the dark, narrow corridor. His eyes closed, feeling his way through.

The whispers in his head grow louder.

_"Your fate is now your own. Sever all ties with the past..." _A dark and mechanical voice echoes through his mind.

He hates that voice. Anger courses through him at the memories the voice brings.

_"Yes,"__a grotesque voice hisses. "Yes... Give in to your anger. Embrace your hate."_

He grits his teeth, and clenches his fists.

_"A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will." _a strange, but kind voice speaks above the others.

He steadies his breathing, concentrating on his own voice. _Enough._

All at once the voices stop.

He opens his eyes. The end of the tunnel in sight. He can hear the agitated screams of thousands of lifeforms, and a steady pounding.

_Boom-boom_

_Boom-boom_

Over and over, the pounding continues.

He pauses at the threshold, checking his clone wars era battle armor. He had painted it gray, and tried to reinforce the chest-plate, but being a slave, his resources are limited.

Satisfied with his armor, he pulls his black, ankle length duster back over his shoulders, pats his lightsaber on his right hip, then the one on his left. A loud voice breaks over a loud speaker system, speaking in an alien language. The crowd quiets for the voice. Starkiller listens and waits.

"Rrachkkchii qiwaai STARKILLER!" the voice shouts long and hard.

He steps out of the tunnel, into the pouring rain. His feet sink slightly into the sand of the vast arena quickly becoming a mud pit. He nods to the crowd, and they immediately go into a frenzy. Thousands of different lifeforms all screaming at once. All stomping in unison. The grand arena almost too large to believe, fitting what must be near a half million lifeforms in attendance, all waiting for blood to be spilled in the pit.

Lightning streaks across the night sky, followed immediately by thunder, seemingly opening the floodgates as the rain pours even harder. The crowd falls silent as the voice starts shouting through the arena's speakers again. He says something Starkiller doesn't quite recognize, then the crowd starts thumping again, faster this time.

Then he sees it. _Aw, crap._

A four legged beast about the size of three Rancors lumbers into the pit, walking on its hind legs. Its oddly slender shaped body is covered in thick scales, almost like armor. Its head is square-ish with big, bulging eyes that shine like red crystals. Its clawed hands near the size of a small starfighter.

The creature roars above the crowd, revealing jaws of sharp fangs, that look more like steel razors than bone. It sets its red eyes on Starkiller, and the crowd falls silent in anticipation.

It lumbers its way towards him, walking on two legs. The ground trembles beneath his feet with every one of the creature's stomps. He stands unmoving, watching the creature come closer and closer. A smirk finds its way across his face, then he sprints full speed at the behemoth coming towards him. He reaches out with his mind, grabbing a large load of mud a ways in front him.

He thrusts his right hand at the beast's face without slowing down. The mud flies out lightning quick, splashing right into the beasts eyes. It staggers back, both clawed hands wiping at its face.

Starkiller taps into the force to increase his speed, his black coat billowing behind him. He jumps high into the air, landing on the creature's head. His fingertips tingle, as he releases lighting from both hands, right into the beast's head, earning a cheer from the crowd.

The monster bellows, then its knees go weak. Starkiller looses his balance as the creature tumbles to the ground. _Maybe this wasn't the best idea._

He leaps from the monster's head as best he can with only a partial balance. The beast flails its arms trying to keep its own balance. Starkiller feels the wind violently knocked out of him as one of the beast's flailing arms catches him square in the chest. He flies through the air, colliding with the concrete wall, then falling face first into the mud. The crowd lets out a collective gasp.

He struggles to maintain consciousness, wondering again how it came to this.

One minute, he was absorbing the Emperor's lightning, slowly moving toward him. Then the next, he was waking up in a cell, weaker than he'd ever felt. He tried, but could not escape, and was punished severely. He was told that he was now the property of Ivan Interimo. A very powerful gangster who thinks himself a king.

He snatched up all the power and then some, that Jabba The Hut's crime empire left behind when he was killed.

Shortly after murdering all his competition, the people dubbed him "_The Boss Of The Outer Rim._"

Very pale, blue skin, slicked back jet black hair, and crimson eyes. He's either a Chiss or some mix involving Chiss. No one knows for sure, except Interimo.

And he's not talking.

He wears only the most expensive suits, and near always has an elegantly dressed Twi'lek girl under each arm.

His lust for power is matched only by his cruelty.

He makes his home on a backwater outer rim world called _Aureole._ Being only a few systems over from Tatooine, it isn't too far from the popular trade routes. Good climate, except the near constant rain every fall. It's a simple world. Nothing special. Just a blue rock in a galaxy full of them.

Out of the way, all by itself, and without anything rare or valuable to speak of, Aureole was left out of major conflicts like The Clone Wars, and The Empire never saw reason to expend the resources it would have taken to occupy it.

The downside is that the system was riddled with smugglers, pirates, gangsters, and the worst of the worst.

With the New Republic forming, and the Empire Loyalists regrouping, another war appears to be on horizon, and the new Jedi Order is stretched too thin to police the outer rim, making Aureole a perfect place for an ambitious tyrant like Interimo.

Starkiller doesn't know how exactly he got there. The guards like to have a laugh at his expense, and always have a different story ready for him. The nearest he can gather, he died in the Emperor's chamber. Interimo wanted gladiators for his new arena. Somehow he got his hands on Starkiller's robe, and sent it to Kamino.

The D.N.A was degraded. They had to use every last shred of it, but they were able to get one viable clone.

His body was placed in a state of accelerated aging, similar to the clone troopers of old, except they kept him in a pod in a kind of coma. They used the pod to stop the accelerated aging when his body matured, and may have actually extended his lifespan greatly, assuming any of it was true. They tried to wake him up, but could not. His body was in perfect health, but his brain had no activity.

For weeks they tried, but could not wake him. They thought maybe there was no way around the advanced aging.

Then one night he awoke.

Not by their efforts however, but all by himself.

No one can explain what happened, but as for Starkiller, he has a theory; his soul- it returned to this world- to his new body. For days, he was too weak to even move. He could do nothing, but lie on his bed, meditate, and look around at his cell. Oddly clean for a cell, shiny gray walls, and a steel door, that only opens with a voice-print I.D.

It took weeks for him just to walk under his own power. Nurses would come in everyday to check on him, change his bedpans, clean him up, and help him with his mobility. After he could walk on his own, they sent him to training. That's when he tried to escape. It didn't go well.

It took months for him to get back into fighting shape. By then they'd already planted the device in his body. A similar device to the one used for slaves on Tatooine.

The device keeps him from trying to escape, at least until he can figure out how to disable it or remove it.

And if he doesn't fight in the arena, then they have no reason to keep him alive.

Starkiller rolls onto his back, the rain tickles his face. He blinks a few times, trying to catch his breath. He wonders if his ribs are broken. _Doesn't matter if they are. Get up!_

He gingerly makes his way to his feet. His chest cries out in agony, but he ignores it. The crowd claps, and whistles. Starkiller watches the beast make its way to a standing position. He squares his shoulders. The beast lets out a roar. He shouts back with everything his hurt chest can muster. The beast charges at him, and he charges back.

He draws both lightsabers, and ignites them. The crowd cheers wildly. Steam rises from the blades as rain falls on the blue energy. The beast raises its leg to stomp on him. He sidesteps to his right. The beast misses by inches. He spins, blades out, slashing both of the beast's legs. It snarls, and reaches a massive clawed hand down, knocking Starkiller away.

He collides with the ground, then immediately rolls to his feet, tossing a lightsaber at the creature's head, in a wide arc. The energy blade slashes off the side of its jaw, then returns to Starkiller. The crowd roars in excitement. If the blow hurt the monster, it isn't showing it. The creature drops down to all fours, charging at Starkiller with a startling grace.

It leaps into the air, landing right in front of him. Its impact with the ground, knocking him off balance. The beast swipes, razor sharp claws aiming right at Starkiller. He dodges with a graceful back-flip. The beast smashes its other clawed hand down like a hammer. Starkiller rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow. The crowd continues its wild frenzy, sensing the end is near.

Starkiller backpedals, trying desperately to get out of the beast's striking distance, but its speed while on all fours has Starkiller at a huge disadvantage. The beast lunges for Starkiller. He stops backpedaling, and dives forwards for all he's worth. He rolls headlong under the creature's belly, slicing his lightsabers along it as he does so.

The beast moans in pain, backing away from Starkiller. He lets it have some space while he tries to come up with some kind of plan. The creature starts moving to its right, and Starkiller moves to right as well. He stares the beast in the eyes as they circle. The behemoth makes its move, charging quickly. It leaps in the air, bringing both clawed-hands down like hammers, aiming for Starkiller.

He turns his sabers off, puts them on his belt, plants his feet in the mud, grits his teeth, and raises his arms. The beast's massive arms collide with a startlingly strong barrier of force energy, stopping them cold. Starkiller struggles under the enormous strain. He takes a breath, and brings his right hand down.

He turns it over, palm up, then begins slowly raising it. The beast starts rising slowly off the ground as Starkiller's hand moves slowly higher. Panting with effort, he manages to raise his right hand level with his left. Knees bent, and trembling, Starkiller holds the massive beast twenty feet above the ground.

He closes his eyes, and begins slowly rotating his palms. The beast slowly turns over in the air, now facing the ground headfirst. Starkiller groans, and slams both hands down. The beast careens into the ground with a sickening thud, the whole stadium rocks with the impact. Starkiller can still sense life in the beast.

He holds out both hands, and releases as much lightning as he can muster. He takes a deep breath, and doubles the lightning's power. The crowd starts chanting for the end. He stops shocking the beast, and pulls out his sabers, igniting them both. The crowed claps approvingly. He starts running, then leaps very high into the air, above the beast.

He launches a charged blast of force energy out of both hands, exploding into the beast's face like a cannon ball. Starkiller flips over from the recoil, but recovers quickly, putting his sabers at his sides, releasing another blast behind him, sending him hurtling towards the beast headfirst like a torpedo, then releases another charged blast to further increase his speed.

He infuses his sabers with lightning, raising them above his head, aiming for the creatures chest. The arena rocks with an electrical explosion as the lightning infused sabers impact with the beast. The crowd stands, holding their collective breath. The beast lay dead in the center of a large crater. Starkiller lies motionless on his back some distance from the beast.

The once deafening arena, now silent as the dead. Starkiller still lay unmoving. _Okay, maybe that wasn't my best idea either._

Starkiller's sabers both lay a next to the beast. They start trembling, then fly through the air. Starkiller raises his hands, and swiftly catches them. The crowd explodes. He slowly makes his way to his feet, ignites the saber in his right hand, then raises it the crowd like he does after all of his victories. He bows, and they chant his name. _That's right, applaud._

Normally he hates the applause, but not this time. He turns to bow to each side of the arena, savoring it, for he knows; one way or the other, this will be the last time. _Tonight is the night._

* * *

_Author's note._

_I'll be keeping most of the canon from Force Unleashed I, but I haven't played The Force Unleashed II. I'm also no expert on the "expanded universe". I think it would be fun to just branch out from the end of the first game, and the movies._

_If I change any canon from the first game or movies, then I'll post an "Author's note" with it, so that there's no confusion..._

_My grammar's not great, but better than some, so bare with me... Please R&R, if you would like more chapters, then let me know..._

_So that was chapter one. I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you thought. I didn't have a beta for it, so I'm sure it's wracked with mistakes I missed. If you're interested in beta-ing the story, then let me know..._

_Thanks all_


	2. Part Two

_Author's note_

_Hey all, I'm finally back with part two. Sorry it took so long. One of my friends got me to sign up for nanowrimo, a writing challenge, where you try to write a 50,000 word novel from scratch in just the month of November. So that's why I haven't been back to write this story as I had originally planned, but I'm back now._

_I want to extend a huge thank you to my followers. CmJerichoRKO (love the screen name btw, I used to be a huge WWE fan), and Grz, I want to thank you both from the bottom of my heart. You are AWESOME!... Without further delay, here is part two. _

_Picking up about an hour after part one left off._

* * *

Starkiller sits on his bed in his shiny cell, while a pretty, green Twi'lek nurse bandages his ribs.

"You were very lucky," she says.

"Well, it sure felt lucky," Starkiller says with a groan.

"A blow like could have killed you- would have killed anyone else."

She finishes with his ribs, and turns to place the roll of bandages onto a hovering cart behind her. She grabs a scanning device, then moves it over his ribs.

"Amazing, your ribs are already beginning to heal."

He shrugs. _I guess being trained by a ruthless psychopath your whole life has its advantages._

The doors whoosh open, and a human man wearing shining bronze colored armor walks in.

"The celebration has already started. The boss wants to show you off to his friends. Are you finished yet?"

After every contest in the arena, Interimo holds lavish parties for the _favorable_ citizens of his empire. The favorable being the wealthy, and the wealthy, being the high ups of his organization.

"We're just finishing up now," the nurse says, then motions to Starkiller's shirt. "You can get dressed now."

She piles her items onto the cart, and begins pushing it towards the door.

"Stay off your feet as much as possible. You might heal fast, but you're still only human," she calls out behind her.

"Hurry it up," the guard barks, not taking his eyes of off the pretty nurse as she walks down the hallway.

"Sure, could you help me?" Starkiller motions towards a high shelf on the wall, wincing in pain. "My nicest shirt's up there. Not sure I can reach it."

He grabs at his ribs to sell it.

"If it'll speed things up," the guard says, stepping into the room, towards the shelf on the far wall.

The doors whoosh closed, leaving Starkiller alone with the guard. _What an idiot._

He grins, and clenches his hands into fists. _This is it._

Months of plotting has led him to this. Getting out is easy. He's too powerful now- they can't stop him. His problem is the device in his body. Every problem has a solution, and Starkiller thinks he's found his. He's betting his life on it. Not that life as a gladiator is all that great.

His plan is pretty simple.

With all the servants working the party, and the guards keeping an eye on the guests there, the rest of palace will be pretty deserted. He needs to find the security office, get into the computers, deactivate the device in his body, and he has to do all those things without being detected. If he can do that, then all he has to do is find a way out.

Or make one.

The guard steps past him towards the shelf, then hesitates. _Too late._

"Hey, can't you jus-"

He flies against the wall, blasted by a ball of energy from Starkiller. He holds the guard against the wall with his mind, just a few feet off the ground.

"If you scream, I will snap your neck," he says darkly.

He holds out a hand, then begins to close into a loose fist, lightly choking the guard with his mind.

"Got it?"

He releases his fist, and the guard gasps for air.

"Got it?" he repeats.

"Yes!" the guard croaks. "I won't scream... Just don't kill me."

"You're going to open the door, and then you will take me to the security office."

"I can't do that. He'll ki-"

Starkiller cuts him off with a closed fist. He watches the guard struggle for breath, then releases him.

"You _will_ help me," he says, "Or I will kill you right now."

The guard whimpers, and nods.

"Good."

He releases him, and the guard smashes into the ground. The guard makes his way to his feet, and to the door.

"And remember," Starkiller says, holding out his fist. "I won't hesitate to snap your neck like a twig."

Starkiller grabs a black shirt, and puts it on, then puts his duster on. He summons a bag with his mind, then squeezes the guard just a little bit for emphasis, then motions for the door. The guard says the password, then the door whooshes open, and the two men walk out.

As expected, the halls of the palace are deserted. When Interimo built the palace, he built it as a replica of the Theed palace on the planet Naboo. No one can say exactly why- no one except Interimo, that is, but... You get the idea.

The guard leads Starkiller down the earth tone hallways, passing very few servants, who are all too busy doing their duties to notice the gladiator, and his hostage. Starkiller keeps his eyes on his hostage, while keeping all his senses tuned to his surroundings, watching out for any sign of trouble.

They pass a few corridors, and finally the guard stops in front of a door.

"We're here," he whispers.

"Open the door," Starkiller growls.

The guard gives him one last pleading look, then dials on a hidden keypad. The door splits in the middle, and slides open. Starkiller immediately takes in the control room with all his senses. He motions the guard inside, then follows him in. Two guards sit at a long control station, bored out of their minds, their eyes not leaving their monitors.

The doors close behind Starkiller. One flick of his wrist sends all the guards, and most the furniture in the room flying into the air at once. The guards slam into the wall with great force, knocking them out. Starkiller moves to the bank of controls, and monitors. _Where is it?_

He begins frantically searching through the systems, eyes quickly roving across lines of text displayed on the monitor. He navigates the complicated system quickly. _There!_

He opens the directory, and double checks through it. He selects the function that he hopes will shut down his device. An image of Starkiller's skeletal appears on the screen with a red dot at the base of his neck. He touches the dot, and the screen zooms in close, and a box of text appears in the upper right corner of the screen. Two icons appear under the text, one on the right, and one on the left.

He doesn't recognize the language of the text, but gets its meaning. He selects the icon on the right, and the red dot turns green. _It's off._

An idea occurs to him, and he scans back through the directory. He smirks to himself as he turns off the devices in all of Interimo's slaves. _This should be good._

He scans again, and deactivates all the holding cell locks. He finds the PA, and hits it.

"Now hear this," he says. "all of the cell doors are now unlocked, and the devices in your body are hereby deactivated. Have a nice day."

He shocks lightning into the bank of controls, rendering the system useless. Sparks fly out of the monitors, then everything in the control room goes black. He blasts the door open with a tremendous blast of energy, and sprints into the hallway, heading straight for the armory. He reaches the armory without incident, and blasts the doors open.

He ducks inside, and finds the locker with his things in it. He rips the locker door off its hinges with the force, takes his duster off, then puts his gray armor on. He wraps his belt around his waist, and straps it tight, then grabs his lightsabers, and places them each in a holster. He puts his long coat back on, then rushes out of the armory, running as fast as he can without using the force to accelerate past his body's normal limits.

He reaches out with his mind, trying to get a good fix on where the nearby guards are. He isn't sure where he's running, but his feelings tell him that he's heading in the right direction. A few guards come around a corner in front of him. He reaches a hand forward, grabbing each one of them with his mind, then rips his hand back.

The men fly towards him, then pass by him screaming. He rounds the corner, and senses a great number of guards heading his way. He sees a door to his left, and ducks inside. The room appears empty, but he feels faint signs of life. Is someone hiding? Are they trying to mask their presence from him? He senses no threat in the dark room. He finds the light controls, and turns them on. The vast room is filled with trinkets, gadgets, weapons, and things that he wouldn't know how to even describe. _It's the trophy room._

All around the room, things are on display. It's very similar to the trophy room that he saw on Kashyyyk. He makes his way towards the far wall, where he feels the faint echo of life. Nothing. No one there.

Then he sees it. Two people hanging on the wall. An older human male, and a teenage Togruta female, both frozen in carbonite. He thought they were paintings or sculptures. He hadn't realized until he got up close.

He turns to leave, then senses movement outside. The door opens, and guards rush inside.

"Freeze!" one of them shouts.

Starkiller raises his hands in the air, watching the guards move slowly towards him. He let's lightning free from his hands, encompassing the guards. They cry out, and drop to the floor. More guards rush in, blasters blazing.

Starkiller rolls, and draws his lightsabers, igniting them, and deflecting blaster bolts with smooth, graceful movements. The bolts fly back at the gunmen, hitting some, and sending the others scrambling for cover.

He grips one guard, and sends him flying into another with a swift sweep of his arm. A guard pops his head up from behind a display to fire. Starkiller tags him in the face with a ball of energy from his palm. The guard flies back into the wall behind, then crumples onto the floor.

The last guard runs for the door to find help. Starkiller rips him into the air by his ankle, then flings him into the wall on his left. The room goes silent, except a strange kind of whirring noise coming from behind Starkiller.

He turns around, and notices the sparks flying from some kind of control console, then notices the carbonite starting to melt. He shrugs. _Not my problem._

He turns to leave, but something stops him. He knows that he should just go. They will drastically slow him down, and his escape relies on speed. Nonetheless, he cannot make himself leave the room, and them behind. A few seconds is all it takes for the carbonite to melt, releasing its captives. They both fall to the floor in a daze.

"Can you walk?" Starkiller half snaps.

The orange Togrura girl doesn't appear to even register his question, but the olive skinned man with bleached hair, cut very short speaks up with no small measure of difficulty.

"Who are you? Where am I?" he asks with a slight accent.

"Long story. If you want to get out of here, then we have to move fast. Can you walk?"

The guy looks like he might wretch, but the girl looks worse off than him, if that's even possible.

"I think so," the man says. "But I can't see."

"Rex?" the girl asks in a daze, apparently starting to gain her bearings.

"Commander," he says.

"Captain, where are we?"

"We don't have time for this," Starkiller snaps.

"Right," the girl says.

She tries to stand, then her knees buckle, and she goes back down, breathing deep, trying not to wretch. Starkiller probes her with the force, trying to determine her physical condition, then he feels it. His eyes go wide for a second. _She's force sensitive._

He shakes his head, and looks around the trophy room. _Come on, there must be one around here somewhere... There!_

He grabs a hovering cart that Interimo's people use to move the heavier things in the trophy room. He activates it, and it starts humming as it hovers four feet off the ground. He gently grasps the girl's wrist. She tenses at the contact.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," he tries his hand at a soothing tone.

She relaxes a bit, and he easily lifts her off the ground, and lays her on the cart. He turns to see the man already making his way to his feet. He helps him the rest the way up, then guides him to the cart, and helps him into a sitting position, the man's legs dangling off the side.

"Hold on," Starkiller says.

He takes off at a full on sprint, pulling the cart behind him with the force.

"I don't think we've met before. Are you a Jedi?" the girl asks.

"No time," Starkiller answers, and continues sprinting.

He follows his feelings guidance down the halls. Turning when he feels like he should. The guards should be coming out from everywhere, but they aren't. _The other prisoners must be causing quite the ruckus._

He reaches a wide hallway with giant blast doors at the end, and he stops in front of them. He can sense a few people inside. He searches the wall, and finds a panel. A few seconds, and he's bypassed the lock. The doors slide open, and Starkiller grabs the cart with his left hand, and pulls them inside. He looks around, and sees that he's in a hangar with many starships of varying sizes, and from different eras, some of them very old, but all of them in pristine condition.

Any one would do, but that doesn't stop Starkiller from taking his time to look around. _What the?_

He can hardly believe his eyes as he stares at a ship, none other than _The Rogue Shadow_. Somehow they got their hands on his ship. _So that's how he got his hands on my robe. _

He smirks, and starts crossing the vast hanger, pulling the cart behind him. People tend to the ships, but Starkiller doesn't see any guards in the hanger. He passes a Nabooan Fighter, and then a CIS Strike Bomber.

A few mechanics give them a strange look. Starkiller just nods, and keeps on. He reaches the ship, and finds the hatch controls. A ramp extends from the hatch of the ship, and the hatch opens. He grabs a hold of the cart just as a group of guards come into the hanger. They see him, and bolt towards them, calling for backup.

Starkiller sprints up the ramp, closing the hatch behind them. He runs to the cockpit, and sits in the pilot's chair. He sees the hanger doors in front them start closing.

"Lets hope she still works," he says, pressing different buttons on the control panel.

The engine fires to life, and the ship starts hovering. The hanger doors in front of them shut tight. The man gets to his feet, and feels his way to a chair, then helps the girl into it, and feels his way into another chair.

"No," Starkiller says grimly.

"What is it?" the girl asks.

"The hanger doors have closed," he says. "Guess we'll find out if the weapons still work."

He presses a few more buttons, and his instruments beep, and hum. He fires the laser cannons, then squints. _Since when does she have Proton Launchers installed?_

He thanks his good luck, and fires the torpedoes. The hanger doors explode, hailing fire, and debris all over the hanger. Pale moonlight shines into the hanger. Starkiller punches the throttle, and guides the ship through a gaping hole in the hanger door. Alerts start ringing from all over.

"Oh, great."

"What now?" the girl the says.

"Anti-air turrets. Hang on!"

He banks left, towards the firing turrets, then dives, spins, and climbs again, gracefully avoiding all the laser fire. He flies right over a turret, and hammers the afterburners, splitting the clouds. More alerts start ringing out.

"Missiles," the man says, behind Starkiller.

Apparently he's starting to recover. Starkiller fires chaff to take care of the first wave of missiles.

"Can you spool up the FTL?" he says.

"Think so," the man says after a time.

They break the atmosphere, and start drifting through space. Even more alerts start chiming.

"Incoming bogeys," Starkiller says. "Coming in fast. Is the hyperdrive ready yet?"

The man gives Starkiller a shrug.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Jumping into hyperspace," Starkiller says.

The stars stretch, then everything turns white. They feel a jolt, and they know the ship has reached hyperspace. They all breathe a collective sigh of relief. _Safe for now._

* * *

_Author's note._

_Well that's part two. Thanks a bunch for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed it.__.. Sorry again for the long wait. I have already started part three, so hopefully I'll have it up in a few days... _

_Leave me a review, and let me know what you thought. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks again._


	3. Part Three

_Author's note_

_MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Wars: Episode III_

_Warning, this chapter has references to drug use, and prostitution._

* * *

"Nice flying, sir. Thanks for the breakout," the man says.

"We're safe for the moment, but we have a problem," Starkiller replies.

"Sir?"

"As long as we're in hyperspace, they can't track us, but we're running low on fuel. Now, I'm betting that they have tracking devices in the ship. I deactivated their ability to kill me remotely, but they can still track the device in me."

"The device?" the girl says. "You're a slave?"

"We can swap stories later," the man says. "How do you suggest we take care of the tracking devices."

"We'll be spotted as soon as we drop out of hyperspace, so we need to find the trackers, and remove them, then drop out of hyperspace, jettison the trackers-"

"Why not just destroy them?" the girl asks.

"To lead them to wrong place," the man says.

"Right. Then we jump back into hyperspace, and hope we have enough fuel to reach a depot," Starkiller says.

"Can you use the internal sensors to find the tracker?" the girl asks.

"I think so," Starkiller says, hammering away at the controls in front of him. "There!" he says after a time.

He stands up, and walks to a console near the back of the cabin. He pulls the faceplate off, and starts digging in wires. He pulls free a gray, disc shaped gadget about three inches in diameter.

"Got it."

"What about the one that's," the girl stammers. "In you?"

"Lets go to the med-bay," he says.

He helps the girl to her feet, and she leans on him while he leads her to the med-bay. The man follows close behind. They reach an impressive medical bay given the relatively small size of the ship. They are greeted by a medical droid, and Starkiller helps the girl to a med-table, then starts searching through drawers, looking for the right tools. He searches while the droid examines the girl, and the man.

The droid gives them each a series of injections.

"Those should help you to recover from the carbonite," the droid says with a high pitched, metallic voice.

"Thank you," the girl says, then turns to Starkiller. "My name is Ahsoka by the way. Ahsoka Tano."

Starkiller's eyes go wide. _Ahsoka?.. My master's first apprentice? It can't be._

For the first time, he really looks at his passengers. The girl wears a kind of tunic that he supposes could pass for a tank-top, though he isn't exactly a master in fashion. The man wears a black tunic, and black leggings. _What a clone would wear under his armor._

"Can I help you find something, Master?" the droid asks, coming up beside him.

"I have a device implanted at the base of my neck, I need it removed."

"Should not be a problem. Have a seat."

The droid starts examining him with scanners. Starkiller turns to the man, sitting a few tables away.

"And You're Captain Rex of the 501st."

"That's right," he says.

Starkiller sighs, and the droid starts going about removing the device. _They have no idea they've been gone for so long._

"What is it?" Ahsoka asks. "What aren't you telling us?"

"You've been gone a long time."

The droid numbs the area, and tells Starkiller to remain very still.

"How long?" Rex chimes in.

"Decades," Starkiller says. "Forty years, maybe. I don't exactly know."

"Forty years?" Ahsoka gasps.

"What of the war?" Rex says. "The Republic?"

"The Clone War?" Starkiller clarifies.

"Yes, the Clone War," Rex grumbles.

"I hate to break this to you, but the war didn't end well."

"What happened?" Ahsoka asks, afraid of the answer.

Where to even begin?

"What do you remember about the Chancellor?" Starkiller asks.

"Smart, slimy like any politician. A bit arrogant, but Anakin- my master considered him a close friend."

"He was a Sith."

"No," Ahsoka shoots back in disbelief.

Starkiller shrugs, and the droid implores him to remain still.

"He was the last Sith, the one the Jedi were searching for. He corrupted Count Dooku, and took him on as an apprentice. He led the war from both sides."

"What you're saying is impossible," Rex says.

"The Jedi would have known," Ahsoka bites back.

"The dark side blinded them," Starkiller says. "They never saw it coming."

"Saw what coming?"

"In the Twilight of the war, Dooku had been killed, and the CIS was on the run. The Jedi Council sent Master Obi-Wan Kenobi after Grievous, thinking that if they killed Grievous, then the war would be over. They were right. Obi-Wan killed Grievous, and The Separatist Government all but collapsed, the last of them tried to hide on Mustafar."

"So we did win the war?" Rex says.

"Yeah, _you_ certainly did. After the death of Grievous, the Chancellor's identity was revealed as Darth Sidious. Master Windu led what Jedi he had left to arrest him. It didn't go well. His entire team, including Kit Fisto were cut down by the Sith Lord. Master Windu managed to disarm him, and that's when _our_ master showed up," he says, looking at Ahsoka.

"Our master? You were trained by Anakin too?"

He ignores the question, and continues the story.

"Windu thought the Sith Lord was too dangerous to be left alive. He was going to strike him down. Skywalker intervened, cut Windu's arm off, and allowed Sidious to kill him."

"No, Master Skywalker would never! He-"

"You don't know him as well you think!" Starkiller barks, then composes himself. "He was secretly married to a senator."

Ahsoka bites her lip. She'd always known that her master had issues with attachment regarding Senator Amidala from Naboo. She didn't have to be force sensitive to see that.

"He was having visions of her death, and thought that somehow Sidious could help him save her. So at the prospect of her death, he decided to doom the galaxy to decades of darkness."

"Maybe he didn't mean to- I mean, he was just trying to save his love," Ahsoka tries to reason.

Starkiller sets his jaw, anger starting to rise again.

"What happened next?" Rex asks.

"Order 66," Starkiller says, watching the former Captain very closely with all his senses.

No reaction, but confusion.

"What's that?"

"The Chancellor ordered the clones to turn on their Jedi Generals. It was a slaughter."

"No!" Rex shouts. "No way would my brother's would betray the Jedi!"

"It wasn't their fault," Starkiller says. "A few months after your disappearance, there was an outbreak among the clone population. They called it a plague, but in reality, it was a genetic mutation in the form of an air-born virus."

"What does that mean?" Rex asks.

"For weeks, the clones were unable to perform their duties, then the Chancellor's doctors developed, and distributed a _cure_. The cure was just the second stage of the mutation. The first stage broke down all the clones defenses, leaving them vulnerable to the mutation, then the cure strengthened the mutation, and knocked out the symptoms of the plague."

"What mutation?"

"It altered their brain chemistry, took away their conscience, made them less independent, and made them unwaveringly loyal to Sidious."

"So all the Jedi were killed by clones?" Ahsoka says.

"Some lived. Master Kenobi, Master Yoda. I don't have all the answers," Starkiller says, "but I'll do my best to answer your questions."

The droid continues his work. Starkiller ignores the splitting pain in his neck as the device is being cut out.

"Master Plo Koon?" she says.

"Shot down by his own squadron."

Rex clenches his jaw, and fists. Ahsoka tries to hide the deep hurt she feels.

"Master Secura?" she croaks.

"Shot in the back by dozens of her clones on Felucia while walking to a transport."

"Master Mundi?"

"He was advancing on a droid stronghold on Mygeeto. He was leading his clones across a bridge. His clones fell back, and he was shot by both clone, and droid armies."

"Master Unduli, and her apprentice Barris Offee?"

"Master Unduli was on Kashyyyk, doing cleanup duty after a battle. She was healing the wounded clones when a squad shot her in the chest. She never even drew her lightsaber. Barris Offee was no longer Unduli's padawan. Offee was sent with Master Secura's group to Felucia. She was leading a group of clones into battle. They fell back. She ordered Lieutenant Galle to fire, and he shot her instead, then had an AT-TE shoot her remains to ashes."

Starkiller can see that the poor girl is having a very hard time controlling her emotions, and an ever harder time accepting his version of the story.

"What happened to General Skywalker?" Rex says.

"After the death of Master Windu, he became Darth Vader, apprentice to Sidious. He led his clones on an assault of the Jedi Temple. They never stood a chance. The few Jedi that were left there were cut down. Skywalker's forces sacked the Temple, and," he trails off, not sure if the girl can take what happened next.

"And what?" she says forcefully.

"And Skywalker murdered the younglings, taking refuge in the Council chamber."

Ahsoka lets out a grief stricken cry.

"NO!" she spits out. "I don't believe you! I can sense the dark side in you."

"But do you sense deception?" he pauses. "Why would I lie? You asked. I'm only telling you what I was told."

"By who?" she sneers.

"Darth Vader," he says evenly.

That stops her cold. Anger becoming confusion. The droid chimes that he's finished, and drops the device into a steel pan.

"How?"

"Lets take care of the trackers before we run out of fuel," Starkiller says, getting to his feet.

He strides from the med-bay, and back to the cockpit. He drops out of hyperspace, walks to the back of the cabin, to the airlock, drops the trackers onto the floor. He steps behind the door, and closes it, then opens the outer airlock door. He watches the trackers fly out into space, closes outer door, then heads back to the cockpit.

He checks his fuel, and plots a course to a space station on the edge of his comfort zone. He checks the engines, then jumps back into hyperspace. He sighs, and slumps a bit in his chair, then hears stumbling behind him. Both Ahsoka, and Rex come into the cockpit, and take seats.

"You should probably stay in the med-bay," he says without turning to face them.

"We have more questions," Rex says.

"I doubt that you'll like the answers."

"We need them just the same."

He wheels around to face them, and nods.

"What happened to the Republic?" Ahsoka asks.

"Sidious said that he had survived an assassination attempt by the Jedi to justify his assault on them, and used it as an excuse to grant himself more power. The Republic became known as The Empire, and he became known as The Emperor."

"What about the Jedi who survived?" Ahsoka says.

"Master Kenobi, and Master Yoda made it back to the Temple, they discovered Anakin's treachery. Master Yoda attacked The Emperor in his office. The Emperor had sent Anakin to murder the last remaining Separatists hiding out on Mustafar. He told the separatists that he was sending Anakin to protect them. Kenobi found Anakin after he had killed them. They fought, and Kenobi won. He left Anakin crippled, and burned."

"And Master Yoda?"

"He failed to kill the Emperor, but managed to escape with Senator Organa. So the Emperor went after Anakin, and found him. They used robotics to try, and save him. What was left was more machine, than man."

"And Senator Organa?"

"Leader of The New Republic, apparently."

"New Republic?" Hope finding its way into Ahsoka's voice.

"That's what I've been told by the party guests who came to the celebrations."

"You don't know?"

"Last I knew, The Emperor had firm control over everything, and Vader was hunting Organa, and his band of Rebels. I guess they turned the tide, and killed Sidious, and Vader after I..." he trails off.

"After you, what?"

"Never mind."

"How do you fit into all this?" Rex says accusingly.

"How were you Skywalker's apprentice?" Ahsoka says.

"Did you know a Jedi by the name of Mallie or Kento?"

"Kento, and Mallie Marek?" she says. "They were a cautionary tale about where attachment could lead. They married in secret, and deserted the Jedi."

"They were my parents," Starkiller says.

"Oh," Ahsoka says, cheeks flushing.

It had taken Starkiller a long time before he could remember any of his childhood other than Vader, but with the help of General Kota, he had regained some, and with the "reawakening" of his soul, he found his memory to be near perfect.

"Because they weren't there during the conflict, they survived the initial assault of Order 66. Sometime after, my mother gave birth to me. We traveled a lot, trying to stay hidden, and stay ahead of the Empire. They were searching for all Jedi, even former Jedi were being executed. We were living on Bespin. I was still very small. Vader, and his forces caught up to us. My mother had been wounded. She stayed behind to hold them off, so that my father could get me to safety."

"I'm sorry," Ahsoka says.

"After that, my father took me to Kashyyyk. We built a modest hut, and lived quietly for a while, then Vader caught up to us. I watched him murder my father. I tried to fight him off, and he sensed something in me. My parents had told me that the force was strong with me, but I didn't really know what that meant. I watched Vader murder his own troopers, then he took me off the planet, and began my training as his secret apprentice."

"You're a Sith," Rex says.

"I was- I was a Jedi killer. I had been raised, and indoctrinated by evil. He raised me with a purpose: to one day join him, and kill the Emperor."

"So, he wanted to kill the Sith? Maybe he wasn't all bad?"

"He murdered both my parents," he pauses for a breath. "He trained me in the dark side, and when I came of age, he sent me to kill Jedi to prove that I was ready to kill The Emperor. It wasn't until he sent me after General Kota that I started to doubt Vader's teachings. It turned out to all be a ruse. I was never meant to kill the Emperor, I was a tool to identify Organa's band of rebels."

"So you aren't a Sith anymore?" Ahsoka asks.

"I don't know what I am anymore, but I know that I am not a Sith," he says. "Now, I'm going to get some rest before we arrive."

"Where are we going?"

"Delta III. A space station near Tatooine. They'll have fuel there."

With that he leaves the cockpit, and goes to the meditation room. It isn't really her fault, he supposes. Her life with Skywalker was far different than the one he knew. He can't really blame her for still caring about him. He just needs to meditate, and clear his mind, because the hard part is still upcoming.

Starkiller walks the upper level of Delta III's promenade, wearing his gray armor under his usual black duster, and has a bag looped around his shoulder. Shops line all the walls, and vendor's stands take up a considerable amount of walking space. The ceiling is one giant window, looking off into space. The walls are a dirty looking brown, and the floor is a steel grate. He passes a group of people browsing at a shop. He needs a way to make fast cash.

They need fuel, but have no money to buy it. He has options however. In a station like Delta III, there's never any shortage of dirty dealings, drugs, prostitution, assassination, theft. The organized crime, and gang activity is staggeringly high. Any wrong step could start a three-way gang war.

He ponders why he had shared so much with the two relative strangers who are currently waiting for him to return to the ship. _Was it pity?_

Pity isn't really something that he's very familiar with, but still, he doesn't think it was pity. If not pity, then what? Was it all the questions that he had asked the guards, and all the bogus answers they gave? Was it the fact that they were suffering from something that he himself has suffered?

He maneuvers through the crowd, trying to think of a plan. He lets his feelings guide him, trying to see what they're telling him. He sees a man leaning against the wall. People hand him something, then he hands them something else in return. _Drug dealer._

Then it occurs to him what the force is suggesting. _Rob a drug lord?... Dangerous proposition, but who else would have a mountain of cash lying around?... And crippling one of the gangs plaguing this place wouldn't be the end of the galaxy._

He walks right up to the dealer.

"You will tell me where your boss keeps all the money." He waves his hand with the words, sending a very powerful suggestion at the dealer.

"Sub-level 27, Cabin B," the dealer says mindlessly.

"You will go, and give the money you've made to the poor."

"I'll go, and give this money to the poor," he says, then turns, and leaves.

Starkiller half chuckles, then huffs it to an elevator. He presses the button marked _SL27_, and waits. A few seconds, and he steps off the elevator into a darkened corridor. If he thought the promenade was dingy, he has no idea what to call this place, except _Hell,_ maybe. The lighting is a dark shade of red. The homeless lay among corridor walls. Every inch of the walls are covered in grime.

Women of every species stand in front of doorways, waiting for their next clients. He puts his head down, and walks past, looking for Cabin B. He passes a couple in the corner, who didn't even bother finding a vacant room, and people walk past him rambling incoherently, high out of their minds.

With force enhanced senses, he can hear women screaming, and babies crying. A man runs past, and vomits on the floor behind him. Somewhere down the seemingly endless corridor, he can hear blasters being fired. He forces himself to continue down the corridor, ignoring the women offering themselves to him for a few bucks, so their pimps will give them drugs.

He finally finds Cabin B. Two men stand in front with impressive blasters.

"I'm supposed to be here," he says to one of the men, waving his hand.

"He's supposed to be here," the man repeats.

"Let me pass," Starkiller says to the other man.

"Let him pass," he repeats.

Starkiller nods, then goes into the drug den. The apartment is small, but filled with people, all sprawled out on couches, chairs, even tables, sleeping off a night of partying. Blasters lay around everywhere. Starkiller puts on his best _I belong here _face, and works his way deeper, letting his feelings guide him.

A man in a chair sees him, and his eyes go wide.

"You don't want to get up," Starkiller says with a wave of his hand.

He goes for his blaster, and Starkiller rips it from beside the man before he can grab it, then sends it back, smashing into the man's face, knocking him out. Starkiller makes his way down a hallway. He stops in front of the last door on his left. He can feel it, this is the room. He also feels two lifeforms in the room. He turns the knob, and opens it quietly.

His eyes find two lumps in the bed, fast asleep. He figures this is the leader's room. He steps in without a sound, senses roving over the room. He walks to the closet, and uses his mind to silently remove a loose wall plate. Inside is a shelf with bundles of cash stacked high. He starts silently putting the cash into his bag. A few seconds later, and the shelf is empty. He quietly replaces the loose wall plate, and exits the closet.

He senses that both people in the bed are still fast asleep, and no one outside is alerted to his presence. He walks quietly out of the room, and closes the door behind him. He walks confidently down the hallway, past the unconscious man, past the sprawled out people, and out the door. He nods to the guards as he leaves, then huffs it to the elevator. He stops in front of the elevator, and presses the call button.

The doors open with a _ding_, and he goes inside. He presses the button for the promenade, and doors close. He feels the elevator moving, and he can't help the smile breaking out across his face.

He steps off the elevator, and heads to the depot. He purchases all the fuel that the ship can carry, and arranges for it to be delivered to the ship. Usually the Rogue Shadow wouldn't need to refuel for a very long time, but Interimo had it running on fumes, probably in case a prisoner ever tried to steal it. He also buys some basic attire for his passengers.

He heads back to the docking port, and radios Captain Rex.

"I'm back. Let me in."

* * *

_Author's note_

_I decided to alter the canon a bit to make the Clone Wars tv show fit with the movies a bit more. I just can't see those Clones turning on their Generals._

_So I also changed things slightly with Mallie Marek's death. She wasn't originally killed by Darth Vader._

_Thank you GRZ for the review! I really appreciate it. You are awesome!_

_So that was part three. It was a bit long, but I couldn't justify posting it with just Starkiller's explanations, so I waited to update until the drug den scene was finished._

_To my knowledge, there really isn't an official "what happened" to Ahsoka or Rex, so I thought borrowing them for the story was plausible._

_Did I go too far with the drug den scene? Do I need to rate it M? Did I do wrong with altering the canon for the clones, and Starkiller's mother?  
_

_Hope you all liked it. Please leave a review to let me know what you think._

_Thanks for reading._


	4. Part Four

A few seconds, and the airlock opens. He goes inside, and is greeted by both his passengers, apparently recovered.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes, sir," Rex says.

"Well?" Ahsoka says.

"The ship will be fueled up shortly, and I bought you both some clothes." He hands Rex the shopping bag. "If you don't like them, then you can just wear them to go buy whatever you do like."

He hands Rex a thick bundle of cash from his bag.

Ahsoka eyes the cash.

"Where did you get this?" she asks.

"You don't want to know. Just don't take too long. I want to be out of here as soon as the ship's fueled, and before they come after us. It won't take them long to narrow down where we went."

"Who are _they _exactly? Who is chasing us?" Ahsoka asks.

"Interimo, the leader of the outer rim's crime empire."

With that he walks to the meditation room, and the door closes behind him.

Starkiller sits on his knees, his lightsabers disassembled, and floating in midair around his head. His passengers returned just before the fuel was loaded, and they left Delta III without further incident. They jumped into hyperspace, heading for a more populated trade run, where they could figure out what to do next.

"Umm, Starkiller?" Ahsoka's voice buzzes through the speaker system of the ship.

He resists a groan, and quickly puts his lightsabers back together.

"What is it?"

"It looks like we're picking a distress call nearby. You'd better get t-"

"On my way," he says.

He holsters his sabers, and moves quickly to the cockpit. Ahsoka, and Rex stand near the control console, waiting for him. She wears a new, extra long reddish shirt over brown leggings. Rex wears a set of modified Stormtrooper armor. Starkiller nods to them, and sits in the pilots chair, examining the instruments. He presses a few buttons, then a fuzzy image of a young blonde woman sitting at a control console appears on screen. A garbled, but understandable voice croaks through the ship's audio.

"_This is Lieutenant Forbes of the merchant ship Animus. We are under attack by pirates, if you can hear this-"_

A console behind her explodes, and she turns as one of her shipmates screams. She turns back to her console.

"_Please! If anyone can hear this, please help us!"_

The screen fuzzes, then goes black as the connection is severed.

"The pirates must be jamming their communications," Rex says.

"We have to help them," Ahsoka says.

"Where are they? Can you get a fix on their position?" Starkiller says.

Ahsoka checks over a control panel. A holo readout of a galaxy map appears with a blinking dot. She points to the dot, and the display zooms to a sector view.

"Only a few minutes away from us," she says. "We have to help them."

"It may be trap," Rex says.

"Worth the risk," Ahsoka says.

"It's your ship," Rex says, turning to Starkiller. "What's your call, Sir?"

He looks at Rex, then Ahsoka, her blue eyes imploring.

"Altering course to intercept," he says. "Activating the cloak."

"The cloak?"

"It was developed in secret by the team that built The Rogue Shadow. Vader killed them all after the ship was complete."

"Oh," she says, then buckles into a chair.

"Dropping out of hyperspace," Starkiller says after a time. "Cloak active. We are undetected."

"It looks like one small escort, and three fighters attacking a transport," Ahsoka says.

"Only three fighters," Rex says.

"The Animus's defenses are down, and I'm reading multiple boarding vessels latched onto their hull."

"That's bad. Try to find me a docking port."

"On it," Rex says.

"Why ambush a giant transport full of goods, if all you're going to bring with you is an escort? They can't possibly hold much stolen cargo," Ahsoka says.

"Slavers," Rex says. "They're after the people. There!"

Rex points to a section of the ship.

"I see it," Starkiller says.

He guides the ship towards the bay, then stands up.

"Take the helm," he says to Ahsoka.

She unbuckles, nods, and sits down.

"I'll be on comm. Hack into their mainframe, so you can access their internal sensors, and keep me appraised," he says.

"Right," Ahsoka says.

He heads towards the aft of the ship, and opens the door to the weapons locker. He grabs his armor, and a few gadgets for his belt. He walks to the airlock, just as the docking clamps lock into place.

"_We're docked. You're good to go. Sensors are monitoring the status inside the Animus. It doesn't look good,"_ Ahsoka's voice buzzes through the comm in his ear.

"Understood."

He opens the airlock, and enters the transport ship. The walls are a shiny white, and the floors are black. He presses his finger to his ear, and activates his comm.

"Which way to the bridge?" he says.

"_Take a left at the end of the corridor," _Ahsoka says.

He runs to the end of the corridor, makes a left.

"_Elevator should be coming up on your left," _Ahsoka says.

"I see it."

He runs a few feet, and hops in the elevator.

"_Heavy fighting on the level above," _Ahsoka says.

He presses the button to go up one level, draws his lightsabers, and waits for the doors to open. The doors open, and the sounds of blaster fire, explosions, and screams fills his ears. He strides out of the elevator into the empty corridor.

"_The hatch in front of you. It looks like a mess hall."_

He senses multiple lifeforms in various states of distress on the other side. He ignites his sabers, and reaches a hand forward, opening the hatch with his mind. He runs inside, and quickly analyzes the large room. Tables run the length of the room with people trying to take cover behind them. Only a few of them have weapons.

Dead bodies lay strewn about the floor. Weequa pirates wearing helmets, and goggles are pouring through the door at the far side of the room, gunning down anyone who resists them, men, women, and children alike. _It's a massacre._

He sees them trying to drag the women, teenage girls, and young children out of the room. His anger rises. He sets his jaw, and takes off at a full sprint, running right for the pirates attempting to take the hostages. They spot him, and start firing, he gracefully deflects their bullets without bothering to slow down, careful not to deflect them into any civilians.

A large group of pirates to his left take notice of him. He sweeps his right arm across to the left, sending them all flying into the wall. He leaps into the air, blocking blaster bolts as he sails towards them. He lands in the middle of them, releasing a shock wave as he hits the ground. The pirates stumble and fall, as do the hostages.

He picks up each pirate on the ground, and slings them towards a group of pirates who just came through the door. They try to catch their flying comrades, most get knocked to the floor. He charges a blast of energy, then releases it on the pirates pouring through the door. They fly backwards as if being pulled by an invisible tether.

He turns to look at the wide eyed hostages on the floor, and points to a group of people huddled behind a table that had been turned over.

"Go," he says, simply.

They nod, get up, and go. He turns back towards the door just as more pirates spill in. They see Starkiller, his blue lightsabers, and the fallen pirates now strewn about the room. Starkiller takes a defensive stance, jaw set, teeth bared, eyes on fire. He points one of his lightsabers at the pirates, and waits.

* * *

"So, Captain, what do you make of this Starkiller guy?" Ahsoka says, sitting at the pilot's chair.

"What do you make of him, Commander?" the former Captain says, sounding bored.

"Well... Umm," she stammers.

* * *

Red, and blue blaster bolts whiz by his face as he runs full speed. He lets out a viscous roar, and blasts energy out of both his hands, sending large numbers of the pirates into the air. He's made his way out of the mess hall, and his making his way down a corridor, heading for one of their boarding vessels.

Five more pirates appear at the end of the corridor. He picks up one of the fallen, zaps him with lightning, and throws him into the group. He smashes into his friends with an electrical explosion, sending them all flying into the air.

* * *

"Do you think we can trust him?" Rex says.

"I don't know," Ahsoka says. "He did save us, and he did come to save them."

"One of us should have gone in there with him."

She shrugs her shoulders.

"He seems capable enough."

* * *

He ducks to avoid a blaster bolt, the bolt flies into one of the pirates behind him. He twists, and lashes out, striking down a pirate with his lightsaber. He moves quickly, and methodically through the pirates, cutting them down, tossing them aside, shocking them with lightning, their blaster bolts, and blasting them with waves of kinetic energy until no more pirates appear in the corridor.

He walks to the boarding vessel, and checks inside. No more pirates inside. He goes to the aft of the ship, and trashes the engine controls with a few well places lightsaber strikes.

"_It's getting bad. You'd better get to the bridge."_

"Have they been compromised?"

"_They're holding for now, but the pirates have reinforcements on the way."_

"Where are the reinforcements coming from?"

"_Four decks above you, port side."_

"On my way."

He goes back to the elevator, up four floors, round the corridor to the port side of the ship. At the end of the corridor, he sees a large group of pirates coming his way, likely headed for the elevator that he just came from. They see his lightsabers, and start shooting. He charges towards them quickly, deflecting their bolts back at them. He reaches a hand forward, and shoots lightning into the group. Blue strings of lightning bridge from each pirate to the other.

Starkiller runs right into the center of them, slashing, ducking, dodging, blocking, and slashing until all the pirates lay at his feet. He presses a finger to his ear, activating his comm.

"The reinforcements are taken care of. Heading for the bridge."

"_Understood."_

He heads back to the elevator, presses the button for deck one, and waits. The doors open, and he can feel fear emanating from ahead. He hears blasterfire, and screaming. He hurries down a narrow corridor, then sees pirates taking cover on both sides of a large blast door. They've bypassed the lock, and the door is nearly all the way open.

"Our reinforcements shall arrive anytime now. You have no chance," a pirate says, then fires his blaster blindly into the room. "Give up!"

Starkiller walks quietly towards them. He throws both his sabers in a wide arc, spinning like a boomerang. They cross each other in mid air, pass through the group of pirates, cutting them down. They start making their return trip, and cross each other again. He catches them both with ease, then turns them off, and holsters them.

He walks into the bridge with his hands out in surrender. A blaster bolt explodes into the wall beside him, stopping him cold.

"Who are you?" a female voice calls.

"Lieutenant Forbes?" Starkiller says.

The young blonde woman steps out from behind a console, aiming her blaster squarely at his head in a threatening manner. She wears a light blue jumpsuit.

"That's me. Who are you?" She brandishes the blaster for emphasis.

He resists a strong urge to roll his eyes.

"My ship picked up your distress call. I'm here to help you."

"How do I know you aren't one of them?"

He does roll his eyes this time.

"Do I look like one of them?"

She pauses for a while, then shakes her head.

"No, you don't."

"Then can you get that gun out of my face?"

She lowers the weapon, holding it pointed to the ground at waist level.

"Sorry," she says.

He shrugs.

"Are you the ranking Officer?"

"The First Mate's dead. Last we heard the Captain was trying to fight them off in the engine room."

He nods, and presses his finger to his comm.

"I've reached the bridge, and found Forbes. She says the Captain is in the engine room. Can you tell if he's still alive?"

"_Standby," _she pauses. _"Looks like there's a good number of pirates still trying to break in, and a small contingent of crew holding them off."_

"Which deck?"

"_Looks like deck nine."_

"Copy, on my way."

"Who are you talking to?" Forbes asks.

"My crew," he says, then walks out of the bridge.

A few minutes later, the elevator doors open, and he steps onto deck nine's main corridor. He can feel pirates somewhere nearby. He touches his comm.

"I'm guessing they have all the doors blocked," he says.

"_Looks like it," _Ahsoka answers.

He walks the corridor, and turns towards the center of the ship. A few turns, and he sees a group of about a two dozen pirates, trying to force open the engine room door. He ignites his lightsabers, and walks towards them, shoulders squared, eyes narrowed. They hear him, and turn, but too late. He cuts three of them down with his first blow.

He infuses his sabers with lightning, and strikes the floor, blasting out a shockwave of electrical energy. He presses in closer, right into the thick of them, blades slashing with lightning speed, cleaving flesh and bone. In mere seconds, all two dozen pirates have fallen. Starkiller stands in the middle of a heap of bodies, eyes closed, chest rising, and falling slowly.

"_I'm not reading anymore pirates on your level," _Ahsoka says.

"See if you can find me a way into the engine room."

"_No need," _Ahsoka says._ "I've reestablished communications from the bridge to the engine room."_

The door opens in front of Starkiller, and an older, bald, human man with a light blue jumpsuit stands in front of him, two blasters hanging in shoulder holsters.

"You Starkiller?" he says.

"Yeah, you the Captain?"

He nods.

"Captain Rodgers, at your service. Your crew got our internal communications back up, and appraised us on the situation. Thanks for the assist."

Starkiller shrugs.

"Lieutenant Forbes?" the Captain says into a comm.

"_Sir?"_ her garbled voice replies through a speaker.

"Sit-rep."

"_Most of the boarding parties have been repelled, though we've suffered some heavy casualties. It looks like they're retreating to their boarding vessels, but..." _she trails off.

"_But_ what Lieutenant?" the Captain says forcefully.

"_They've taken many of the children."_

"Can we stop them before they get to their ships?" Starkiller says quickly.

"_No," _Forbes answers. _They will reach the shuttles before the elevator can reach the proper deck."_

Rodgers curses loudly, and punches the wall, his knuckles come away bloody. Starkiller presses his finger to his ear, and starts heading back for the elevator, walking purposely. Captain Rodgers, and a few crew members follow him.

"Ahsoka, prepare the hyperdrive. We're going after them."

"_Once they jump into hyperspace, we won't be able to track them,"_ she says.

"We won't have to," Starkiller says. "Just get the hyperdrive ready."

"_Okay," _she says. _"Anything else?"_

"Let me know when they jump to hyperspace, and be ready to plot a course."

"_Aye."_

He presses the call button on the elevator.

"You care to tell us your plan?" Rodgers says.

"I trashed the engines on one of their shuttles," he says. "If I can hack into the on board computer-"

"_Then we should have access to their network," _Ahsoka cuts in. _"Brilliant."_

He hadn't realized that he left his finger on the comm.

"I'm so glad you approve," he says dryly, then turns back to Captain Rodgers. "I should be able to gain access to their network."

"With that, you can see their current position, and charted course," the Captain surmises.

They both step onto the elevator, and Starkiller presses the button for the deck he was on when he trashed the shuttle. The doors close for a few seconds, then open again. They step off, and Starkiller leads the Captain to the shuttle, sensing no threat in the shuttle or on the deck, he steps inside, and heads to the forward cabin.

"_They've jumped to hyperspace,"_ Ahsoka says.

He checks the instruments, and sits down at the pilot's chair. He goes over the controls a few times, letting the force guide him. He presses a few buttons, and a holo display appears over the console. He presses a few more buttons.

"_That's it," _Ahsoka says. _"I'm in their network. I can see everything."_

"Where are they going?" Starkiller asks.

"_Their course keeps changing,"_ Ahsoka says. _"Like they're going in a circle... There! Tatooine. They're going to Tatooine."_

"Plot a course, I'm on my way."

Lieutenant Forbes comes to the shuttle, her face whiter than a sheet. She looks up at the Captain with teary eyes.

"They took her," she says. "She's gone."

The Captain looks at Starkiller.

"Her little sister, Moya. She's seven."

Starkiller turns to Forbes.

"We're going to bring her back- we're going to bring them all back," he says evenly.

* * *

_Author's note_

_*Edited for spelling errors 12-11-12*_

_Thank you Grz for the review. I appreciate it immensely. And thank you RKF22 for the review. I'll definitely try to keep it up, and improve if I can._

_And thank you everyone who read it._

_What do you think of the length? Are my chapters too long? I've seen some other stories with similar word counts, but they all seem to have many more chapters than I have._

_Please leave me a review, and let me know how I'm doing. I'm always open to suggestions._

_Thanks again. I hope to have the next part up soon, and I hope you all come back to read it._


	5. Part Five

He hurries back to the rogue shadow, and they quickly detach from The Animus, and jump to hyperspace, headed for Tatooine.

"Nice work back there," Ahsoka says from the pilot's chair.

Starkiller just shrugs, and takes an open seat.

"I'm serious," she says. "Even Rex is impressed."

She nods his direction for emphasis.

"That was quite a few pirates for just one man- even a Jedi," Rex says.

The ship goes silent for a while, no one talking, then Ahsoka speaks up.

"So, how do pirates like them survive out here?" she says.

"What do you mean?" Starkiller says.

"I mean, why would the leader of the crime empire let them operate in his territory?"

"They pay him tribute. He doesn't care what they do, as long as he gets his cut," Starkiller says.

She nods in understanding.

"How long until we reach Tatooine?" Starkiller says.

"Shouldn't be more than a few hours," Ahsoka says.

"Call me when we've arrived," he says, standing up, and heading back for the meditation room.

_What are you doing?_ A voice in his head asks him over, and over. This isn't his fight. He doesn't know those people. Why should he risk himself for them? It's not how he was taught. It's not how he was trained. Why is he letting a Jedi stay on his ship? He was trained to kill Jedi- all Jedi.

But another part of him, praises him, and tells him that he's doing right. That his training was wrong. That he was beaten, and tortured until they thought that no mercy or compassion existed in him, but they were wrong. He is finding his compassion now. That part of him tells him not to fight it, but to fight the other side of him- the side that Vader created.

But there's something very powerful driving him to these taken children. Is it his own past? He was taken as a child, and made into Vader's slave. He was made to serve his dark master in terrible deeds. After he broke the chains of his slavery, he found himself a slave to someone else. Maybe he just wants to spare these children the suffering that he endured, but isn't that compassion?

The door buzzes, and he opens his eyes with a sigh.

"Come in," he says.

Ahsoka walks in somewhat timidly.

"If... this is a bad time... I can," she trails off.

He motions to a place on the floor next to him, inviting her to sit down. She sits, and crosses her legs.

"Thanks."

"What can I do for you?" he asks.

"I... had some more questions, if that's alright?"

He nods, and waits for her to work up the nerve.

"I had some _friends. _I wonder if maybe, you know what happened to them?"

"For a Jedi, you sure seem to have a lot of friends."

"This was a mistake. I shouldn't have disturbed you."

"Hold on," he says. "I didn't mean any offense. If anything, I'm envious."

Confusion crosses her face.

"My whole life, until I met Kota, the only friend I ever had was a droid that Vader programmed to stay with me, and try to kill me whenever he saw a good opportunity, so that I would learn to never drop my guard."

"And that was your friend?"

He shrugs.

"It was complicated," he pauses. "So who did you want to know about?"

"Senator Amidala."

"She died giving birth to twins."

"They had twins?" she says.

He shakes his head yes.

"According to Senator Organa."

"What happened to them?"

"He didn't tell me that. Didn't trust me enough. While I was enslaved by Interimo, sometimes his party guests would tell me stories."

"Party guests?"

"He liked to show me off to the socialites of his crime empire after events."

"Events?"

"Battles in the arena."

"The arena? So he made you be some kind of gladiator?"

"His events are real spectacles. Near a half million people from all across the outer rim, and beyond show up on a weekly basis, and I was the main event. After the events, Interimo would host lavish parties for the socialites. Talking to them, and listening to their stories was the only opportunity to gain information about the state of the galaxy."

She shakes her head, looking genuinely sympathetic.

"Anyway, they told me that those twins grew up in secret from Vader, and were instrumental in overthrowing Sidious."

She perks up a bit at that, then takes on kind of a shy demeanor.

"What?" Starkiller says.

"Are you familiar with the name Bonteri?"

He takes on a thoughtful look, then snaps his finger.

"Bonteri, Lux. Senator. Onderon, I believe," he says. "He was assassinated by Vader after opposing Sidous's initiatives one too many times."

He can feel a dam inside her burst at his words. She tries to remain composed, but he can feel the strain, and the pain in her.

"I'm sorry," he says, the words feeling almost foreign to him.

She shakes her head, composing herself as best she can.

"I had one more name."

"Okay," he says.

"Master Shaak Ti. Do you know what happened to her?"

His eyes go wide for a second.

"Uhh-"

They feel a jolt as the ship drops out of hyperspace.

"_Sir, we'll be arriving at Tatooine anytime now,"_ Rex's voice buzzes through the ship's speakers.

"We can talk later," Ahsoka says. "You should get ready to go."

He nods, and she stands up, then leaves the meditation room. He takes a few breaths to collect his thoughts, and tries to shrug off the dread he feels at the prospect of having to tell her that he himself killed her friend. Not Vader, not the Empire, not the Clones. _H__im_.

He grabs his armor, gadgets, and duster on his way to the cockpit. Ahsoka takes over the piloting controls from Rex, who stands up to stretch.

"Gear up," Starkiller says to him. "You're coming with me."

"Sir," he says with a nod, then heads back to the weapons locker.

Starkiller takes the copilot's chair, and turns to Ahsoka.

"You stay with the ship."

"What? Oh, come on, I can help y-"

"And you will help. Someone needs to stay with the ship, in case we need a quick getaway."

"Captain Rex can stay with the ship," she argues.

"Captain Rex isn't as proficient with the ship as you are."

She rolls her eyes, and grumbles under her breath.

"Entering Tatooine's atmosphere," she says stiffly. "It looks like their ship has landed in Mos Eisley's space port."

"Head for the outskirts."

Rex comes back to the cockpit wearing a tan cloak over his white armor. They break through the atmosphere, and Ahsoka guides them just under the clouds, and lands a good distance from Mos Eisley's space port.

"I'm ready when you are, Sir," Rex says.

Starkiller stands up.

"Ready," he says, then walks for the hatch in the aft of the ship.

"You two, be careful!" Ahsoka shouts behind her.

Starkiller, and Rex don't talk much as they trek across the seemingly endless desert. They made sure to bring plenty of water, and dried food with them. Starkiller brought what he thought would be enough cash for most contingencies, but left the vast majority on the ship.

Time seems to halt in the baking sun, their labored breathing, and crunching footsteps the only indicator of any time passing. Starkiller isn't sure how long they've been walking, but it seems like forever. Though he is trained for this, and a lot more. He lets the force guide his direction. He knows how the desert can trick one's eyes.

They crest a dune, and finally they see Mos Eisley on the horizon. They pick up their pace a little until they finally make it to Mos Eisley.

"Alright, Ahsoka, we've made it to Mos Eisley," Starkiller says, touching his finger to his ear.

"_It's about time," _Ahsoka says dryly.

Starkiller rolls his eyes.

"What's the status on the pirates?" he says.

"_It looks like their leader is meeting with-"_ She gasps out loud.

"Ahsoka?... Ahsoka!" Starkiller nearly screams.

A worried expression crosses Rex's face.

"Is something wrong?" he says.

Starkiller shakes his head, and puts his palms face up.

"_Sorry," _Ahsoka says, finally. _"Everything's fine."_

They both take a huge sigh of relief.

"You scared the bantha dung out of us," Starkiller says.

"_Sorry. I just... can't believe it. Their leader is meeting with Rotta The Hut."_

"So?" Starkiller says.

"_I saved his life when he was a baby- well, Anakin, and I saved him."_

A few seconds of relieved silence, then Starkiller speaks back up.

"So where's the ship?" he says.

"_Right, sorry," _she says.

She gives them some rough directions to a landing bay a few hundred meters deeper into the city. Speeders hover by, and crowds of people with animals, and carts pass by as the walk. They pass a few stands, and carts of people trying to sell goods. They try to keep a low profile, though places like these are rife with the scum of the galaxy trying to lay low.

At least the locals know better than to look too closely, or ask too many questions. They see a large group of Weequa, wearing helmets, and goggles coming out of a landing bay a ways in front of them.

"Must be it," Rex says.

Starkiller nods, and activates his comm.

"I think we're looking right at the bay," Starkiller says. "If you don't hear from us in a couple of hours, don't worry. It probably just means we're dead."

Rex raises his eyebrow, and Starkiller just shrugs. He needs a plan. He figures the pirates leader is meeting with Rotta to discuss price, then Rotta will send emissaries to examine the merchandise before making a purchase. That gives him, and Rex some time to get in, grab the children, and get out. Hopefully before the emissaries arrive.

He motions for Rex to follow him, and heads for an alley next to the landing bay. He heads midway through the alley, stops, looks at the roof of the tall dome shaped building, then turns to Rex.

"They'll have all the entrances, and exits to the bay covered," he says. "How's your climbing skills?"

Rex pulls out a kind of cylinder shaped gadget, and attaches it to one of his pistols.

"Grappling hook," Rex says.

Starkiller nods, then without a word, he leaps high into the air, as high as he can. The building is too tall for him to reach the roof in one leap. He plants his feet on the side of the building, and leaps off. He blasts energy behind him to propel him back towards the building, and lands on its roof. He crouches, and waits. He helps Rex onto the roof. They both walk crouched across the rooftop. Starkiller stops, and points to a spot on beneath their feet.

"There," he whispers.

He ignites a lightsaber, and cuts a hole in the roof, just big enough for a man to jump through. He shuts off his lightsaber, holsters it, and jumps through. He lands silently in a dark closet. He helps soften Rex's landing. He finds the door, opens it quietly, and leads Rex into a dusty, tan colored hallway. He reaches out with his mind, looking out for guards.

He doesn't sense any too near them.

"We should be okay until we hit the lower levels," he says.

"Right," Rex says.

They trek down a staircase, winding down, and down, and down.

"Where are all the guards?" Rex says as they quietly descend the stairs.

"They think they made a clean escape. They'll cover the exits, but how many men do they need for that? Most of them are probably holed up in a bar somewhere, or pursuing less honorable desires."

After a few long minutes, Starkiller finally nods to a door, and takes a few breaths. Rex nods back, and they head through the door, and into the hall.

"End of the hall," Starkiller says. "Door on the right. There will be guards in the hanger."

"Understood."

Starkiller reaches the door first, cracks it an inch, and peeks inside.

"I think I can sneak into the ship. Stay here, and cover me," he says.

Rex draws his pistols in response, and Starkiller takes off, moving silently towards the ship. The guards at the hangar's entrance don't see him, because they have their backs turned. He moves quickly up the ship's ramp, and finds himself in a long, narrow corridor. The walls are a faded tan, and everything looks covered in grime, and muck.

There are hatches every few feet on both sides of the corridor. He starts making his way towards the end of the hall, where he sees a ladder, leading to the higher decks. He senses lifeforms on the move somewhere in front of him. He quickly opens the hatch on his left, and ducks inside, closing it quietly behind him.

The room, if you can call it that is very small. Nothing in it, but two bunk beds nearly touching each other. He waits for the lifeforms to pass by, then sneaks back into the hall, and climbs the ladder. He climbs five decks up, then steps off the ladder, and finds himself in an identical corridor, but this time, he can sense lifeforms in distress.

He walks to the end of the corridor, and pauses at the door on his left, then the door on his right. He senses young lifeforms inside, and a few hostile ones as well. He opens the hatch, and is greeted by the confused faces of two Weequa pirates, and the frightened faces of multiple children varying in ages, and species. Starkiller holds his hands out, then slams them together.

As he does, the pirates feet leave the ground, and their bodies collide, head first in midair. Now Starkiller isn't exactly great with children, but he'll have to do. He clears his throat.

"Hello, I'm here to help you."

The children look just as afraid of him as they were of the pirates, maybe even more so after seeing his power. He decides he needs a new approach.

"Is one of you named Moya?" he says.

No answer.

"Lieutenant Forbes- Your sister sent me," he says.

A little blond girl steps in front of the others.

"Anna?" she croaks.

He never actually caught her first name, but he senses both sincerity, and love in the child's voice. He nods.

"She sent me to save you- save you all."

She comes slowly, timidly towards him. He reaches out his hand, and waits for her to take it. When she does, the rest of the children follow suit, and come to him.

"Is this all of you?" he asks the group. "Did they separate you- take any of you away from here?"

"No," a green Twi'lek girl, maybe ten years old says. "They locked us in here, and those guys said they'd hurt us if we were bad, but they didn't take anyone away yet."

Starkiller offers a reassuring smile, and motions for them to follow. He starts leading them down the corridor, to the ladder. Moya holds tightly to his hand, and he finds that he doesn't mind. He takes a quick headcount, so that he won't lose any of them without noticing. He keeps his senses on a sharp lookout for any signs of danger.

The ladder is going to be tricky, he knows, but would prefer to avoid the lifts. He can't- he must take them down a lift. He stops in front of a hatch, and presses the call button. He senses one pirate inside. The door opens, and he blasts the pirate with a sudden blast of energy, knocking him against the wall with a terrible thud.

The pirate crumples onto the floor, and the children let out a collective gasp. Starkiller motions for them to be quiet, then uses his mind to drag the pirate out of the lift, and stashes him in one of the rooms. He leads the kids into the lift. It's a tight fit, if any of the children were any bigger then they would have needed to take two trips.

The lift opens to the bottom floor, and to Starkiller's relief, there's no one in the corridor. He leads the children back down the corridor. He halts a few feet in front of the ramp, and reluctantly takes his hand from Moya.

"I need to make sure it's safe. I'll be right back."

He walks a few feet, and peers out. He spots Rex still peeking into the hangar with both his pistols at the ready. He waves to get Rex's attention, and nods. Rex catches his meaning, and nods back. Starkiller peers all over the hangar from his vantage point. He goes back inside.

"We'll need to be very quiet, okay?" he says, slowly nodding.

They nod back, and he leads them down the ramp. He makes his way about halfway, points at Captain Rex, and motions for the children to approach him, then he takes up the rear, making sure none of them lag behind. They all reach Rex without being seen. He breathes a huge sigh of relief, then Rex speaks up.

"What's our exit?" he asks.

Starkiller opens his mouth to reply when Ahsoka's voice cuts into his mind through his comm.

"_Sorry to interrupt, but I thought that you would want to know, one of the Animus's shuttles is landing at the spaceport."_

"Can you get a hold of them?" Starkiller asks.

"_I'll try."_

"That could complicate things," Rex says.

"Or simplify them," Starkiller says, already working on a new exit strategy. "To the roof."

He motions for Rex to take point while, he brings up the rear. He feels Moya's hand find his again, and smirks to himself as they head for the stairs.

"_It's Lieutenant Forbes," _Ahsoka says. _"She came for the children."_

"Can you send her our coordinates?"

"_Sure."_

"Tell her that we'll be awaiting pickup on the roof in about seven minutes. And we have the children- all the children."

They race up the stairs as fast as the small children will allow, Starkiller now carrying Moya up the stairs, the child clinging to him tightly. He senses her fear, and whispers that everything will be alright. Up, and up, they go, the children starting to tire very quickly. They finally reach the closet. He helps Rex through the hole, then levitates each child through, one by one.

He jumps through the hole, and they are finally on the roof. Starkiller guides them a ways towards the alley, and tells them to sit, and rest.

"Ahsoka," he says, holding his hand to his ear.

"_Yes?"_

"Tell Forbes that we're on the alley's side of the roof."

"_Copy that."_ There's a pause on the comm. _"She's en route."_

His eyes go wide as he feels a disturbance.

"Good," he says. "Because I think they just discovered the children are missing."

"_Do you want me to take off, and fly over?"_

"No, stay there," he says just as he sees a shuttle flying low, heading their way. "We'll be coming to you."

* * *

_Author's note_

_So, that was Part Five. I hope very much that you all enjoyed it. Please leave me a review, and let me know what you thought._

_Yes, I'm sorry, but I didn't want to have "Old Lux" running around, making things awkward, so I gave him a noble death. _

___Thank you RKF22 for the review. I'm flattered that you think I'm doing a great job, and I will try very hard to keep it up._

_Thank you Shadows for the review, I really appreciate it, and no, I'm sorry, but this will not be a Rexsoka fic. No offense to the Rexsoka fans, but I refuse. Also, I'd prefer not to have Juno in the story for the same reason that Lux is not in the story. Thank you so much for the suggestions though. All suggestions are welcome, and I appreciate them a ton._

_Thank you CC-645, and TATSUKIxICHIGO, and nina32177 for following. You brightened my week... And finally, thank you Skipernicus, and gta manic for favoriting my little fic. You all helped give me the kick in the pants that I needed to get this chapter up..._

___Big thanks to everyone who has read the story so far._

_Part Six is already well underway, so keep your eyes peeled. _

_Hope life finds you well. Until next time. Thanks again all._


	6. Part Six

The shuttle comes in quickly. Starkiller runs to the edge of the roof.

"Come on, kids."

He waves them towards him, and Rex helps hurry them along. The shuttle slows down, then hovers a few feet away from the roof. A hatch in the side of the shuttle opens, and Lieutenant Forbes appears in the doorway.

"Alright kids, jump," Starkiller says. "Take a running start, and jump. You can do it."

Rex organizes them, and tells one to go, then another, then another. Starkiller watches closely, ready to catch them if they fall. Soon all the children have made the jump, except Moya. She clutches Starkiller's forearm tightly, and he motions for Rex to go ahead. Rex nods, and sprints to the edge, then leaps into the shuttle.

Starkiller leans down, and helps the girl onto his back with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Hold on tight," he says, then takes off.

He leaps the gap easily, and lands softly.

"Go!" he says.

The door closes, and they feel the shuttle rapidly accelerate. Starkiller sets the girl down, and she runs into the waiting arms of her older sister.

"Thank you," Forbes says with more than a few tears. "Thank you so much."

He nods, then heads for the cockpit. One of the Animus's crew pilots the ship. Rex stands behind the pilot.

"We've got incoming," the pilot says.

Starkiller goes to the copilot's chair, and starts looking over the controls. He brings up a map of the city, and points to a row of buildings.

"There," he says. "Fly low."

The pilot shakes her head, and does as instructed. Starkiller motions for Rex to follow, and heads to the back.

"Everyone away from the door," he says.

Rex helps back the children away, and Starkiller opens the door.

"What are you doing?" Forbes shouts, her hair blowing all over the place in the furious wind.

"We're going to buy you enough time to break atmosphere, and escape," Starkiller shouts back, his long coat blowing in the wind.

He turns to the door, and waits for the right buildings to appear. Rex stands next to him, stone faced. It's almost time, but they are too high.

"When you jump, I'll soften your landing," Starkiller shouts.

Rex nods.

"Go!" Starkiller shouts.

Rex jumps, just as tall buildings appear under him. Starkiller concentrates hard, and effectively prevents Rex from serious injury. Starkiller sees flashes of light from the ground. He rushes to the pilot.

"Flak guns. Climb, climb, climb!" he shouts.

The pilot pulls back on the stick, and gravity shifts, pulling everyone towards the back of the cabin. Shells start exploding near the shuttle with large clouds of smoke.

"Stay ahead of them," Starkiller says.

The pilot nods, then curses loudly. Starkiller looks to the screens, and sees two incoming fighters.

"I'll deal with them," he says.

He goes into the back of the cabin, and heads for the door. He hears a voice cry out behind him.

"Wait!" Moya shouts.

She runs up, and throws her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. It feels almost foreign to him. He can't even remember ever being hugged, except by his mother. He lightly pats her back, and kneels down to her eye level.

"You be good," he whispers.

She nods, and he gently removes her arms from him, and guides her back to Forbes. He heads back to the door, then turns back to Moya.

"And listen to your sister," he shouts.

She giggles. He turns, then leaps out of the door. He feels gravity shift dramatically. He tucks his arms close to his sides, and blasts energy from his hands, flying towards the fighters like a missile. He almost misses the fighter, but manages to grab a hold of the wing. He grits his teeth, and pulls hard.

He manages to get his whole body on top of the fighter, and uses the force to help him keep his balance, as he half crawls towards the engine. He sees the other fighter pull up, and slow just a tad, so that it can get a view of him, crawling on top of its friendly. He lays on his back, and reaches his hands forward, grabbing a hold of the other fighter with his mind.

He pulls his hands apart, almost pulling the wings off, then slams his hand together. The wings crumple into the fuselage. The engines explode, and the ship goes down in a ball of fire, and smoke. He carefully turns over, and draws his lightsaber. He ignites it, and slams it into the engine. He jumps away from the fighter, just before the engine explodes, and the fighter goes down.

He falls back first, looking up at the blue sky. With the force he can fall great distances without much danger, but he knows that this fall is too great even for that. The force helps him with the strain against his body, helping him to breath easily as the wind rushes by his ears so fast that it sounds like a hurricane. He closes his eyes, and a smile finds its way to his face. He's never felt anything like it before. That little girl treated him like hero.

The only time he'd ever felt something similar was when he helped the Wookies on Kashyyyk, but even then, he knew that he was only doing Vader's bidding. This time- this time he did the right thing. Not because he was told to, or that he had to, but because he wanted to. Nothing has ever made him feel quite like this.

Like he might actually be able to find some kind of redemption- some kind of peace in this life. He continues to accelerate towards the ground. The wind so loud, it sounds like a star cruiser chasing him through Hell. He turns over in the air, and sees the ground is startlingly close. He charges up, and waits, watching the ground come closer, and closer, and closer.

He releases a blast of energy. The force of the blast causes him to flip over backwards, and nearly halts his descent. He gets his legs back under him, and falls a second or two before landing lightly. He puts his head down, and assumes the walk of a man going about his business. He activates his comm.

"Rex."

"_Sir?"_

"I'll meet you at the ship."

"_Yes, Sir."_

Starkiller blends into the crowd, and slowly makes his way towards the outskirts. A while later, and he feels the city abuzz behind him, the pirates have finally mobilized, but it's too late. The shuttle is long gone, and soon enough, the Animus will be long gone too. He's made it away from the city, but fleeing the planet is going to prove more difficult. He wonders how Ahsoka, and Rex will take the news, but isn't too worried about it. It isn't like they have much choice anyway.

Starkiller's thoughts are much more occupied with how great it felt to help those kids, and just exactly how he is going to put his new plan into action. His boots crunch into the sand, and a smile finds its way onto his face. He has a time to figure out his next move. He has all the time in the world.

He takes a nice pull from his canteen, and for a second, regrets not just buying some kind of speeder, but banishes the thought, and continues on, thinking hard on the future. After seemingly forever, and nearly running out of water, he finally approaches the ship.

"I'm back. Let me in."

The ramp comes down, and he steps aboard. Ahsoka stands a ways inside, looking displeased. The door hatch closes behind him, and he's just thankful to be home. He realizes that The Rogue Shadow is the closest thing that he's ever had to a home.

"What took you so long?" Ahsoka says. "Rex got back like an hour ago."

"I had to be more careful getting out of the city."

He shrugs out of his duster, and realizes that it's covered in- well, dust. In fact, every piece of clothing that he's wearing is covered in dust, and sand.

"Well, we were worried," Ahsoka says.

"You could have used the comm."

"We didn't want to bother you, in case you were busy."

An awkward silence falls over them until he starts making his way to the cockpit. Rex sits in the pilot's chair, going over sensor data.

"So, I've got some possibly bad news," Starkiller says.

"What is it?" Rex says.

"We may be stuck here for a while."

"What?" Ahsoka squeaks.

"The pirates have mobilized with the help of The Hutts."

"So?"

"So that means Interimo is involved, and knows we're on Tatooine. His ships are probably already here."

"If he knows we're here, then we need to run." Rex says.

"Normally I would agree with you," Starkiller says. "They're probably setting up a blockade. We can't run through them."

Ahsoka sits in the copilot's chair, and starts pressing buttons.

"What about the cloak?" Rex says.

"They'll detect us when we try to break atmo. Cloak or no cloak."

"He's right," Ahsoka says pointing to a holo display. "They've already set up a blockade."

She slumps in her chair, and Rex sets his jaw.

"So what's the plan?" Ahsoka asks. "I'm assuming you already have one."

Starkiller smirks, and nods.

"We lay low, for now," he says. "That is, if you want to stay."

"What do you mean _if_?" Ahsoka says. "You just finished explaining why we can't leave."

"Not exactly. I just explained why _I _can't leave. You two can purchase tickets on any public transport, and head to the New Republic, join the New Jedi Order, or whatever it is you want to do."

"Why wouldn't you come with us?" she says.

"They're looking for me. They know you're missing, but with the chaos at the palace, they don't know we're together. You two should be able to blend in on a transport without too much trouble. Also, this ship is my home. I'm not just gonna leave it."

"So that's it? We wait here until they decide to leave, or just go on a transport?" Ahsoka says.

"Not exactly," he says with a slight smirk. "I'll lay low for now, but I want to go after the The Hutts. I intend to dismantle the whole operation. I'm going to free these people."

"Risky," Rex says.

"I know," Starkiller replies. "but if I can free Tatooine, then I believe I can do the same again. Tatooine will be a test run."

"A test run for what?" Ahsoka asks.

"For the Outer Rim- for Interimo. He is a tyrant, and I am going to bring him down or die trying. I will destroy his entire operation, one arm at a time if I have to. Starting right here, on Tatooine."

They both seem taken aback by his sudden determination. He tries to relax a bit.

"You can still leave, if you would like, I'll understand, but right now," He motions to his clothes. "I need to clean up."

A good scrubbing in the shower, and grabbing his only other fresh pair of clothes that he had brought in the bag from his cell in Interimo's palace, and he feels like a new man. He'll need to go into town, and find a tailor, but first, he needs a good meal, and some rest. The resting shouldn't be too difficult. The ship is stocked with enough food to last a long time, but the quality is nothing to write home about.

He exits his cabin, and heads for the Galley that doubles as the Mess Hall. He finds Ahsoka, and Rex already there, rummaging through cabinets.

"Can I help you find something?" he asks, leaning on the counter that separates the cooking area from the eating area.

"A frying pan?" Ahsoka says.

He points to a cabinet behind her. She opens it, and sees pots, and pans made out of varying materials, and of varying sizes. She grabs one, and places it on a burner.

"Thanks," she says.

He nods.

"What are we making?" he asks.

"No idea. Rex is figuring that out." She turns to Rex on the other side of the Galley. "How's it coming?"

"Uhhh," is the only response Rex can muster.

"I didn't realize you were a cook," Starkiller says.

"Never cooked before in my life, Sir," Rex says.

"So why are you preparing the food?"

"How hard can it be?" Rex says.

Starkiller raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. Ahsoka turns to him.

"We've decided to help you, for now." she says. "After the Hutts have been removed from power, and the blockade taken care of, I will have to report to the Jedi Council to resume my training."

Starkiller nods. Rex grumbles curses under his breath, searching for something. Starkiller pushes off the counter, and walks around it into the Galley to help.

The three of them make what someone could call a meal, if they used their imaginations really hard, that is. Though Starkiller really couldn't care less. Just being there, cooking, and enjoying a meal with his new crew, having a new purpose, and the freedom to see it through, that's a feeling some flavorless veggies, and charred meat can't take away.

He lays awake in his bed, looking out at Tatooine's night sky through the large window in the ceiling directly above the bed. He knows that there's a whole fleet of ships up there, just waiting for him to try and escape the planet. They already have all of the Hutt's local resources turning the city upside down, looking for him.

Soon enough, they'll send down squads from the fleet, and soon after that, the bounty hunters, and mercenaries will show. But not tonight- tonight he will close his eyes, and sleep. He will sleep, and for the first time, as a free man. His happiness is tainted by the pain he feels.

Not his pain, but that of his crew. He can feel them both struggling to cope with their loss, the girl especially. He can feel the conflict within her, and her great struggle against it. He sighs deeply, closes his eyes, and rolls to his side.

His eyes open to the sun rising. He sits up, and takes a long breath, stretches out his neck, then heads for his bathroom. He cleans up quick, then heads to the meditation room. He thinks hard on his options, and considers his first steps. _I have errands to run._

After meditating, he can feel his crew moving about the ship. He heads to the Galley to find Ahsoka cooking.

"Morning," Ahsoka says, placing a large plate of badly burned eggs on the counter. "I made breakfast."

She smiles proudly, motioning for him to sit at the counter.

"Thanks."

He sits down, and she scoops eggs onto a plate, then hands it to him with a fork. She watches intently as he takes his first, somewhat reluctant bite. He chews, and forces a smile.

"Good?" she asks.

He nods a yes, and watches her beam at the compliment. He tries to swallow the burned, and yet somehow also undercooked eggs. She goes back to the burners. Starkiller decides that the first thing on his agenda will be to buy a protocol droid to do _certain_ chores for them.

"So what's Rex up to?" he asks.

She turns back around to face him.

"Trying to _better familiarize_ himself with the ship," she says imitating Rex's accent.

She turns back to the stove. Starkiller scarfs down the rest of his plate as fast as he can while her back is turned. She turns around just as he finishes his last swallow.

"Done already?" she says surprised.

"Oh... Yeah," he says. "It was really great."

"Oh, thank you," she says, blushing slightly. "There's more if you-"

"No," he nearly shouts, but manages to stay mostly composed. "I wish I could, but I need to eat light, because I'm going to cross the desert in a little while."

"Oh," she says. "I thought we were laying low?"

"I just have some errands to run."

"Oh?"

"I need to find a tailor, and I was thinking that we could use a protocol droid to help out around here, and maybe an astro-mech as well."

"It would sure be nice to not have to do our own laundry." She turns towards the sink full of dirty dishes. "And the dishes."

He nods, remembering the state of his clothes after the desert.

"Can I come?" she asks.

"I'm not expecting any trouble this time."

"So, yes?"

He nods.

"If you want to."

"No offense, but I've been dying to get out of the ship."

"I'll go tell Rex the plan. Can you be ready to go in about twenty minutes?"

"No problem."

He nods, thanks her again for the eggs, then walks out of the Galley. He finds Rex sitting behind the pilot's chair.

"Rex," he says. "Familiarizing yourself with the ship?"

Rex turns back to Starkiller, and looks down the corridor, then speaks in a near whisper.

"Trying to avoid the Commander's cooking. I wouldn't go into the Galley if I were you, Sir."

"Thanks for the warning, but you're about five minutes too late."

Rex grimaces.

"How bad?"

Starkiller just shakes his head, then tells Rex about heading into town for droids, and other supplies. Twenty minutes later, Starkiller, and Rex are both waiting on Ahsoka. Another twenty minutes, and she finally emerges from her cabin wearing a brown cloak. She couldn't look more like a Jedi, even if she tried.

"Ready," she says.

Starkiller resists a grumble, and they head out into the desert. They chat idly while they traverse the vast sand dunes of the desert.

* * *

_Author's Note_

_Hey all_

_sorry it took so long to get this chunk posted. My sister spilled milk on her laptop, so I had to loan her mine. I forgot that my story files were on it. I have my laptop back now, so the next part should not take so long, and I've already started writing it._

_Thank you RKF22 for another stellar review! And thank you for adding it to your favs!_

_Thank you Rouge Mandalorian, and Gps3 for favoriting! Thank you very much!_

_Thank you bobbo08, Rockobrocko, and Rogue Mandalorian for following! It really helps me to see that people are enjoying the story._

_And finally, BIG thank you to everyone who read the story so far! Thank you all very, very much!_

_Please leave me a review, and let me know what you thought._

_I hope life finds you well. Until next time. Thanks again._


	7. Part Seven

They chat idly while they traverse the vast sand dunes of the desert. They finally reach the city.

"Lets check the small dealers first. Draw less attention to ourselves, if we can."

"Right," Rex says.

The walk a ways, then enter a shop. A blue Toydarian greets them.

"We're looking for a protocol droid, astro-mech, and some parts," Starkiller says.

He hands the Toydarian who he assumes is the owner a data-pad with a shopping list.

"The parts- we have," the Toydarian says with a gravelly, slightly accented voice. "The droids- well, lets have a look."

The Toydarian leads them into the back where there's a massive pile of junk. He points to a a few droids piled on top of each other.

"Those are in the best condition," he says.

Starkiller moves in to examine them. He clears away a few that are not even close to operable, then he comes a across a badly damaged astro-mech of a make that he doesn't recognize. It looks nearly identical to the astro-mechs that he's seen before, but the sensor "eye" is triangular, and red, with an even redder triangle around it, contrasting with it's light gray paint job.

"Which line is this?" Starkiller asks.

"R-7," the Toydarian says. "Not the newest, but definitely not obsolete. You have a good eye, Outlander."

It looks mean. Starkiller likes it.

"It's seen better days," Starkiller says.

Upon further inspection, the damage seems mostly superficial, except the power core.

"Power core's fried," Starkiller says.

But that's okay with him, he was planning on replacing it anyway.

"I'll give you a discount on a power core, barely used."

Starkiller nods.

"Should work. What about protocol droids?"

"I only have one, and it'll cost you."

"Where is it?"

He takes them back inside, and hovers proudly in front of a display. The droid is pretty much what you would expect from a protocol droid, though it has no covering.

"A TC-Series. Top of the line. In almost perfect working order."

"Almost?" Ahsoka says.

"Yes, well, it has a few... Shall we say, kinks."

"Hardware or software?" Starkiller says.

"Software," the Toydarian answers. "Sometimes his linguistics program malfunctions, and he speaks the wrong language."

"And you have all the parts I'll need?"

"Oh, yes."

"Good condition?"

"Condition varies on price," the Toydarian says with a smirk. "Now, how will you be paying for this?"

"Lets figure out a total before we discuss payment, shall we?"

They haggle as one would expect in an establishment like this. The Toydarian trying desperately to rip off his customer as much as possible, and Starkiller not having any of it. He knows what the droids, and parts are worth. He haggles the Toydarian down to a more manageable number- still too high, but manageable.

Starkiller reaches down into his pocket, and places a bundle of cash worth what the items should cost, plus fifteen percent on the counter in front of the suddenly silent Toydarian.

He counts the bills, then looks at Starkiller.

"Deal," the Toydarian says. "But it will take some time to get these parts together."

"That's fine. Can you tell us where we can find speeders?"

The Toydarian gives them some basic directions to a few different shops that sell good conditioned vehicles, and warns them which shops to stay away from. They head to the closest shop. Starkiller eyes a few of the speeders, then eyes the merchant selling them.

"Not here," he says.

They leave, and start heading for the next place.

"What was wrong with that shop?" Rex asks. "The vehicles appeared in good order."

"I didn't like what I sensed from the merchant. I think his vehicles are stolen."

They get to the next shop, and find it much more to Starkiller's liking, though he wasn't expecting to find anything so high-scale. Every surface is shiny, and spotless. A very well dressed, gray haired, human woman greets them kindly.

"Are you looking for something specific?" she asks.

"Something fast," Starkiller says.

The woman smiles. She leads them to a long row of pristine speeder bikes. She guides him to the end of the line, and motions to the two on the end.

"These are some of the fastest that we have, quite stable, and agile too."

He steps in for a closer inspection. They are definitely different from any that he's seen before. Shorter than most speeder bikes with a beautiful black paint job with metallic white accents. There is a large, black sphere on the front, and the back, almost like two large wheels.

"Those are both repulsors," the woman says.

Starkiller nods, and examines the shapely body, long, and oval with a curved opening on the side that he can see the inner turbines through. He looks at the woman as if to say _may I?_

She nods, and Starkiller straddles the bike, placing his hands on the handle bars. _Oh, yeah._

A few more unnecessary minutes of looking, he buys both of them, and pays her asking price- cash- no haggling. They weren't cheap either, but he figures that he can spare the funds. He also buys some carts with tractor beams, so they can haul some cargo.

"Is there anything else that I may help you with?" the saleswoman says?

"Yes, ma'am," Starkiller says. "I'm looking for a good tailor."

"Oh," she says with a big smile. "I can definitely help you there."

She tells them of the most sought after tailor in the spaceport, and tells them to mention her when they get there. Starkiller thanks her, and they head outside, with their new speeders.

"I'll think one of us should try, and find the city's food market, and pick up some things," Rex says, standing next to Starkiller, and Ahsoka on the side of the road.

"Are you volunteering?" Starkiller says.

Rex nods.

"I'm not sure we should split up," Starkiller says.

"It will save time," Rex says.

"Go ahead, but call me if anything happens."

"Yes, Sir."

Starkiller straddles one of the bikes, and Rex straddles the other. Starkiller begins checking the computer systems when he feels the bike shift beneath him, then gentle hands wrap around his waist. A high-pitched yelp very nearly escapes his mouth, but he somehow manages to stay composed. He turns his head casually to see Ahsoka sitting behind him on the bike.

"What?" she says

"Nothing. Just assumed you were going with Rex."

"You aren't the only one who needs more clothes."

He nods. _A girl wants to go clothes shopping. Why am I surprised?_

"I guess we'll just have to guess for Captain Rex," Ahsoka chuckles.

Starkiller gives one more nod to Rex, then starts the engine with a kick. The bike comes to life with a growl, and trembles beneath them. He revs the engine, and it gives off a satisfying roar. Ahsoka's grip around him tightens, and a smirk finds its way to his lips as he kicks the bike into gear, and slams down on the throttle.

They get sucked backwards, and have to lean forward so that they don't get pulled off. The saleswoman wasn't lying; the bike is fast. He forces himself to slow. He doesn't want to draw too much attention. Minutes later, and they've arrived at the tailor's shop. He mentions the saleswoman, and they both receive excellent service.

After being measured for some time, trying on a few different looking _test_ _devices_, and briefly explaining that he wants another duster just like the one that he's wearing, more shirts, and pants, just like the ones that he's wearing, the tailor tries to tell him that it will take weeks. He drops a stack of cash on the counter, and the tailor tells him to come back in the morning.

Unsurprisingly, Ahsoka takes her time, going over catalogs, looking over every different display, trying on every possible combination, and asking him many questions about her appearance with each new outfit.

"What about this one?" Ahsoka says, motioning to the powder blue tunic, and knee length skirt that she's wearing. "I'm not sure the blue goes with my color."

"It looks fine," he says, suppressing a groan.

He can't really imagine her looking _not_ _fine_, but whatever. He just figures that even though she may be a Jedi, she's still a girl. He watches her inspect her reflection. She makes her final decisions. Starkiller pays the clerk, and grabs hold of her bags.

"Thanks," Ahsoka says.

He just nods, and heads out of the shop. He puts the bags in the cart on the back of the bike, then hops on.

"Where to now?" Ahsoka says, sitting down behind him.

"Back to check on the progress of our droids."

The drive back is short, but not unsatisfying. Starkiller heads inside. Ahsoka waits on the bike. It isn't long before Starkiller comes back out with a cart full of spare parts, and both droids. A few minutes, and he's loaded the cargo. He contacts Rex, and tells him to meet them back at the ship, then takes off on the bike.

(******)

Starkiller sits on a med table, his sleeves rolled up, working on the new protocol droid. He has been working on the droid for quite some time. Ahsoka walks into the med-bay. Starkiller greets her with a nod.

"Rex got back a while ago," Ahsoka says. "Thought you'd want to know."

"Thanks."

"So hows it coming?" she says, motioning to the droid, and all the parts and tools strewn about.

"Almost finished," he says, then puts his tools down beside him on the table.

He stands up, and activates the droid. It comes to life immediately, and greets them with a very proper, high-pitched, mechanical voice.

"Hello, I am TC-8OB."

"8-O-B?" Starkiller clarifies.

"That's correct, Master."

"I guess we'll call you Bob," he says.

The droid turns his head in confusion.

"You may call me whatever you wish, Master. I am here to serve you."

"I see you've fixed his linguistics program," Ahsoka says.

Starkiller nods.

"And upgraded his power core, processors, firmware-"

"Indeed you have," the droid cuts Starkiller off. "I'm detecting new programs, and directives."

"Like what?" Ahsoka says.

"He'll be able to perform more complex tasks, watch, learn, even operate, and fly the ship for us, if need be."

"Oh, wow, thank you, Master."

Starkiller smirks, and pats the droid's shoulder.

"And the astro-mech?" Ahsoka asks.

"I've repaired most of its damage, but I still have to install the new power core."

He picks up a white towel, and wipes some of the grease off of his hands, and forearms.

"You work fast," Ahsoka says. "Oh, I almost forgot, dinner's ready."

"Not fast enough," he mutters under his breath without meaning to.

"What?" Ahsoka asks.

"I was hoping to be finished with our astro-mech before supper time."

Ahsoka nods.

"Hey, Doc," Starkiller calls.

He's taken to calling the medical droid _Doc_. The droid hovers over to him.

"Yes, Master?"

"Please, clean up these droids."

"Yes, Master."

Starkiller follows Ahsoka to the galley, and she serves him a sandwich made with fresh bread, meats, and cheese that Rex apparently bought from the market. She grabs a frying pan, and spoons some fried potatoes with spices onto his plate.

"This looks wonderful," he says. "Thank you."

She smiles nervously, then fixes herself a plate, and brings it around the counter, and sits at one of the stools. Starkiller takes a bite, and breathes a deep sigh of satisfaction.

"Good?" Ahsoka asks him.

He nods sincerely, then goes for another bite.

"Hey, thanks for today," Ahsoka says.

He turns to her with a puzzled expression on his face.

"It was... Nice- to just forget about our troubles for a while."

"So where's Rex?" he asks after swallowing.

"I told him that I was preparing dinner. He said he was-"

"Familiarizing himself with the ship?" Starkiller cuts in.

"Yeah."

He rolls his eyes.

"Right," he says.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He chuckles, then goes back to eating.

(******)

Starkiller lays on his back, looking out the window above his bed at the night sky again. He's turned all the lights in his cabin off, and can't believe the vivid light of the stars. Not since he was a child with his mother has he appreciated the simple beauty of something like the stars- or anything for that matter. His Sith training didn't exactly include appreciating beauty.

He can still feel the struggle, and pain of his crew, but not as strong as the night before. Tomorrow, he will fix the remaining droid, pick up his new clothes, and explore the town a bit.

(******)

Starkiller enters a small Cantina with Ahsoka, and Rex close behind him. Rex had stopped there the day before, and suggested they stop in to rest before heading back to their ship. They had already picked up their clothes from the tailor, and grabbed some more supplies. They also saw that "Wanted" posters with a rough sketch of Starkiller were being hung up around the city.

The lighting in the Cantina is poor, and the place reeks of tobacco smoke, and liquor.

"Feels good to be out of the sun," Ahsoka says.

There's a bar at the far end of the room with a door leading to a back room. Rex makes his way to a table near the bar. Ahsoka, and Starkiller both join him at the table. Starkiller can't really figure why Rex was so insistent they come here. It looks like a rough place, not that they can't take care of themselves, but keeping a low profile is kind of a must.

Rex's gaze moves to the bar, and Starkiller looks that way. He sees a beautiful human woman tending bar with light olive skin, and dark hair. She's very clean, which is rare in a place like this. Rex stands, and asks his partners what they'd like, then heads to the bartender, and orders a few drinks.

Rex chats idly with the barmaid while she pours their drinks, then he returns to the table.

"If we're going to dismantle the operation," Rex says. "Then I think we should get to know the locals, develop contacts, keep our ears to the ground."

"You think here's a good place to start?" Ahsoka asks.

Rex shrugs.

"The food's good. The drinks are cheap, and there are a good number of low-lives here, and they all love to talk when their drunk."

"I guess we could find worse places to holed up while we do this," Ahsoka says, then turns to Starkiller. "Right?"

"Sure," he says. "This should work fine."

(******)

After spending some time in the saloon, they headed back to the ship, and Starkiller got to work fixing the astro-mech with the help of _Bob _the protocol droid. He upgraded all of the astro-mech's systems, and replaced the fried power core, then upgraded all of its software. Satisfied with his work, he activated it. All diagnostics read green. He looked over to his medical droid, and decided to upgrade it as well.

A few hours later, and he has three almost sentient droids mulling about his med bay, speaking to each other in different languages just for the fun of it- or beeping, and whistling in the case of the astro-mech.

"Hey, Doc," Starkiller says. "would you mind cleaning up-" he stops.

He strokes his chin, thinking.

"I never looked at your name, did I?" he says, looking at the astro-mech.

He walks over, and grabs a towel, then stoops down to the astro-mech, and gently tries to clear away some of the grime from where it's designation is written.

"R-7-J-0," he says. "I guess we'll call you Jo."

The small droid beeps in approval. Starkiller pats it on the dome, and stands up.

"Doc, would you mind cleaning Jo up for me?"

"Of course, Master."

(******)

Within two days, there were wanted posters with his face plastered everywhere, a large bounty was placed on his head. A few days later, and squads of soldiers from the blockade were occupying the city, searching for him, and a week after that, bounty hunters, and mercenaries arrived.

Starkiller sits with his crew at a table in a quiet corner of the Cantina. They had spent most days here, eavesdropping, and mentally probing the patrons for information.

"Things are getting worse every day," Ahsoka says. "I don't know how much longer we can keep this up before you get spotted. And that hat won't hide your identity for forever."

He had taken to wearing a wide brimmed, black hat with the brim curled up in the back, and turned slightly down in the front.

"It would safer, sir, if you stayed with the ship," Rex agrees.

Starkiller takes a dram of the amber colored liquid in his glass.

"Maybe until we have a sure plan," Starkiller says. "Maybe I should stay with the ship from now on."

He stands up, and adjusts his duster, then leaves a few coins on the table.

"I'm gonna head back," he says.

Rex nods. Ahsoka stands up.

"I'll head back to," she says. "I want to run some more scans of the blockade, maybe catch some of their radio chatter."

She nods to Rex, then ducks out the front door after Starkiller.

(******)

Rex sits at the table, looking at his reflection in the amber liquid of his glass. He listens to two patrons, a male Bothan, and a male Rodian complain about the soldiers hampering business, and the mercenaries cocky attitude. He notices a three mercenaries, two Trandoshen males, and what appears to be a human male, wearing silver Mandolorian armor. They're eying the patrons, and the patrons don't notice them. _Not good._

The armored man nods to the Trandoshens, and they walk over the patrons. One of them shoves the Bothan into the bar from behind. Rex grips one of his pistols, holstered at his hip, but doesn't draw it yet. The Trandoshens start mocking the Rodian, as the Bothan makes his way back to his feet.

The beautiful, olive skinned woman behind the bar gets the attention of the mercenaries, and tries to talk them down. Rex notices the armored man's gaze turn to her. Something in his body language makes Rex's skin crawl.

"If you want to fight, take it somewhere else," the woman says firmly.

The Trandoshens look to the armored man. He steps towards the bar.

"Maybe I'll just take _you_ somewhere else instead."

Before her eyes even have a chance to shoot wide, Rex is on his feet, pistols drawn, and leveled at the side of the armored man's neck, where the armor is weakest.

"I think not," he growls.

The man slowly turns his head to the right, and looks Rex up, and down.

"There's three of us," the man says. "Think you're fast enough to shoot us all?"

"You'll pay to find out."

Rex notices the pistols slung in shoulder holsters on the man's upper torso. He catches movement in the corner of his vision. Both the Trandoshens have drawn their pistols. They swing them in Rex's direction. Blue light flashes in the dark, smoky bar as Rex nails both Trandoshens square in the chest. They gasp, and crumple to the floor. Rex curses himself for he knows that he's in serious trouble.

He knows that the armored man behind him has a clean shot. If he's a fast draw, and a good shot, which Rex has to believe that he is, given the fact that he's still alive, then Rex is now a dead man. He lunges headlong, and rolls as he hears a loud blaster shot echoing behind him. He knocks a table over to take cover behind it, thanking his lucky stars that the armored guy missed.

He risks a peek over the table to see the armored man on the ground in a pool of blood. For a second he doesn't understand what he's seeing, then he sees the plume of smoke escaping the barrel of a Flechette shotgun, held tightly in the hands of the woman behind the bar. He chuckles, and shakes his head. He stands up, and strides for the women.

"Thank you, ma'am... He'd have had me." He looks to the bodies of the Trandoshens. "Sorry."

"No, it isn't your fault," she says. "You didn't harass my customers, and threaten me, did you?"

He shrugs.

"I suppose not, ma'am."

"Name's Marta," she says.

She pours a dram of her best whiskey for herself.

"And this one," she says, pouring him a glass. "Is on the house."

* * *

_Author's note_

_Hey all, been awhile, huh?... So, so sorry about that. I didn't give up on this story, but I was very, very stuck. I intended to come back to it after the holidays, but I signed up for a creative writing class, so I've had little to time to write anything not course related. I know, I know, excuses, excuses... So anyway, this was part seven. Thanks for your patience, thanks for the read, and please review, and let me know how I'm doing._

_Thank you, FinlandNative for the review!_

_Thank you, OnyxTemplar for the review!_

_Thank you, RKF22 for the review!_

_Thank you, Kyubbiman for favoriting!_

_Thank you, David990 for favoriting!_

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_Thank you, OnyxTamplar for favoriting!_

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_Thank you, xXxLKxXx for following!_

_And thank you all so much for reading, and enjoying! You are all totally awesome people!_


	8. Part Eight

_**Ahsoka**_

She swings the wooden training blade with great force.

Starkiller ducks ever so slightly and the blade catches nothing but air.

She draws back and swings again, this time, aiming for his head.

He turns his head and leans a little to his side. The blade misses wide.

She grits her teeth, and lunges at him, blade extended. Again, she catches nothing but air.

"Sit still," she grumbles.

"In real battle, your enemies aren't likely to sit still and wait for you to kill them."

She rolls her eyes and charges again. She rears back to strike, bringing her blade down like a hammer.

It has been a few days since the incident in the cantina. Since that time, they've spent their time either spying on the criminal underworld, or training.

He steps forwards quickly, blocking her blow with his blade, grabbing the pommel of hers and wrenching it from her hands. He turns on her, pointing the blade right at her chest.

"Again," he says.

He tosses her the practice blade back, then attacks without warning, easily disarming her again.

"Your enemies will not wait for you to be ready."

She glares at him and crosses her arms.

He throws the blade back.

"Again," he says.

This time she charges him without warning, swinging at his leg.

His blade blocks hers and knocks it away.

She uses the momentum to lead into a wide slash, but catches nothing but air. She feels a slight prodding on her leg, and looks down to see his blade tapping it.

"Concentrate," he says softly.

"I _am._"

He shakes his head and tosses her his blade.

"This time, I'll be unarmed."

"Getting cocky?"

He shrugs, and she comes at him furiously.

He ducks and leans, then twists, and ducks again. He moves with such subtlety, she thinks.

Each of his moves purposeful, each exerting the least amount of energy possible.

She swings again, finding nothing but air. She unleashes a wild barrage of slashes and lunges.

He dodges each strike, making it look effortless.

She slashes for his neck, and he ducks under, driving his shoulder into her abdomen.

She stumbles back and slashes with one saber, but finds he isn't where she thought he'd be. Then her world turns upside down and her back's flat on the ground, her blades flying from her hands at the moment of impact. A single blade touches her heaving chest as sweat pours off her face.

Starkiller stands holding the blade, breathing easy, face even. Appearing not even the slightest bit winded.

"You must always concentrate on your barrier. It must never fall, or you'll lose your weapons, and possibly, your life."

He lowers the blade and offers his hand.

A thought occurs to her and she takes his hand, then braces herself. She rips him down and rolls on top of him. She straddles him and smiles, victorious, then feels his hand grip her throat and feels a tug. Suddenly he's on top of her, straddling her. She struggles as his body presses against her to keep her pinned.

He keeps his wits about him and places the blade at her throat.

"Good try," he says.

She expected anger, or something, but he just sits there with a smirk.

"Very good try," he says. "But you didn't follow through. If you're going to try that, you have to follow it through."

His body heat rushes through her and she realizes just how close he is. She looks him in the eyes, his stoic face inches from hers.

If he realizes the awkwardness of the situation, he doesn't show it. For a few seconds, he studies her crystal blue eyes, then pushes off the ground to stand up. He offers her a hand.

She takes a long breath and this time, doesn't try to pull him down.

"Follow through?" she asks.

"Didn't Vad- your master teach you grapples?"

"We didn't work on grapples so much." She shrugs. "We mostly worked on things that were useful against battle droids."

"Aside from Ventress and Dooku, I suppose you didn't have much reason to fear fighting against force sensitives."

She shrugs again.

He uses the force to levitate the blades across the meditation room that doubles as the training room and places them on a rack full of training weapons. He motions for her to come closer.

"If you find yourself unarmed and fighting hand to hand, if often comes down to grappling."

She steps up to him and waits for his direction.

"Put your hands on my chest," he says.

She gives him a puzzled expression.

"Grab me." He motions to the areas just inside each shoulder blade.

Timidly, she steps up to him and grabs his shirt with both hands.

"Okay," he says. "Pay attention."

He reaches his right hand over her left, and grabs her right hand against his chest. He positions it so their thumbs almost line up, then in one quick motion, he wrenches it away.

Her arm goes wide, then high, sticking almost straight up. Not far enough to cause pain, but far enough to be uncomfortable. She is doubled over and her left hand points at the ground, too far out of reach to be of any use.

"See that?" he says.

"Yeah."

He lets go, then squares up with her again.

"You try," he says.

She nods.

He steps up to her and takes a hold of her light blue tunic.

She grabs his hand and prepares to wrench.

"No, no," he says quickly.

She looks up at him.

"My right hand," he says.

She reaches her hand across her torso and takes a hold of his right hand.

He nods, and she wrenches.

He doubles over, and she holds him in place.

"See?" he says.

"Yeah."

He shows her different moves of varying difficulty, starting with the simplest and most useful. After a short time, she starts to really get the hang of it.

While trying to show her a reversal, Ahsoka kicks his leg to send him to the floor, holding onto his arm. She wrenches it away as she jumps down on top of him, trying to pin him.

He struggles beneath her, digging his heels into the floor and pushing with his knees, trying to slide out from under her. He grabs her neck with his free hand and tugs hard.

She rolls halfway, but manages to hold there, wrapping her leg around him to prevent rolling further.

They both struggle back and forth, trying to roll the other, their foreheads touching as they lay sideways on the ground.

Ahsoka realizes how it would look if someone were to walk in, but she doesn't care; she wants to pin him and show that she isn't useless.

They hear someone nearby clearing his throat. _Rex!_

Ahsoka lets go and rolls away as if Starkiller were on fire.

"Oh, hi, Rex! We were just- ah..." she trails off.

Starkiller stands up casually and dusts himself off. If he realized the compromising position they were just in, he doesn't show it.

"Rex," he says. "Is it time?"

"Yes, sir," Rex says. "He has returned to his office."

"Showtime," Starkiller says with a gleam in his eye.

(******)

_**Starkiller**_

They gear up, then head out, walking the black speeders down the ramp of the rogue shadow. Starkiller hops on one and grips the ignition. He feels arms wrap around him again as Ahsoka hops onto the back of his bike. This time, he doesn't question it.

"Ready?" He looks over at Rex.

Rex nods and Starkiller makes sure his hat is secure on his head and checks his pocket for the roll of plastic trash bags, then hammers the starter. He feels Ahsoka's grip tighten, then he hammers the throttle, gritting his teeth at the sudden shift in gravity and the wind in his face. A few minutes of high-speed travel across the sand and they've reached their destination: a large domed building with pillars next to the front entrance.

"Are you sure about this?" Ahsoka says behind him.

"What?" he says. "We're just robbing a casino. No big deal."

They had found out that the Weequa by the name of Toong was running a casino near the edge of Mos Espa. They also found out that Toong was funneling large sums of money to Rotta the hutt. Stopping Rotta's money flow seems an excellent first step to killing the beast that is his crime empire.

Starkiller walks up the steps to the casino's entrance, Ahsoka and Rex follow close behind. Starkiller hands some cash to the Wookie at the door and he lets them in. The place is dark with nothing but neon lights to light it. Twangy music blares through loud speakers, people of all species mull about the crowded main floor. Card tables and other various gambling machines are placed periodically along the wide open room. The smell of booze and tobacco nearly overwhelming.

Starkiller nods to his team and they nod back. He heads to a table for high-rollers and drops a fat stack of cash on the table.

The dealer and the patrons look up at him and he just shrugs.

"Cash plays," the dealer says.

The plan is pretty simple; Rex and Ahsoka plant charges in safe locations, then will detonate them to cause a disturbance.

Starkiller uses the force to read his opponents, knowing when to raise and when to fold. A few minutes later and he's nearly tripled his stack.

A well dressed Bothan grumbles under his breath.

"What was that?" Starkiller says.

"I said you are a-"

A loud _boom_ rocks through the casino floor; followed by mass hysteria, people running and screaming, some forgetting their winnings, some taking the opportunity to take other peoples before turning to run. Another boom rocks the casino, then another.

Before the fourth explosion can sound, Starkiller is already through the _employees only_ door and heading up a winding flight of stairs. The last explosion finally sounds. He knows that he has to hurry. By the time they realize its a diversion, it will be too late to stop him, but if they're smart enough to mobilize the local resources, they may be able to cut off his escape.

He clears his mind of it and presses on faster, scanning the area ahead with his feelings. He reaches the top floor and walks through an archway. A long hallway leads to a single door at the end of the hall. Six armed guards stand in the hallway. They raise their guns, but it's too late.

One good blast of energy puts them all down in the close quarters environment. Starkiller rushes down the hall, blasting the door off its hinges with his mind.

Blaster bolts immediately fly his way from inside the room. He blocks them easily with his sabers, sending them back into his attackers chests.

They fall next to a desk; sitting behind the desk is a trembling Toong.

Starkiller walks into the room, shoulders squared, jaw set. He reads Toong's reactions and zeros in on a place in the cream colored wall.

Toong curses under his breath.

Starkiller smirks and rips the wall open with his mind, revealing a very large stash of cash.

"You... You don't know what you're doing," Toong says.

"Don't I?"

"Do you know who you're stealing from?"

"Rotta the hutt."

Toong's eyes widen and his breath catches in his throat.

"If you know, then..." he trails off.

Starkiller pulls out the roll of black trash bags and rips one off.

Toong curses again.

"That is far too much for any one man to carry," he says.

"Do I look like just a man?"

Large stacks of cash float into the air and into the bag.

Starkiller senses something and turns back to the Weequa.

Toong draws a pistol and fires.

Starkiller jumps to the side, dodging the bolt, then releases a blast of energy at the desk and Toong sitting behind it. They both fly backwards in the air and through the window behind them.

Starkiller faintly hears Toong screaming as the Weequa falls to his very public death on the street. _Whoops._

He rips open three more bags and fills them as fast as he can. Four bags, nearly as tall as him, full of cash. He uses the force to levitate them, then turns back to the door. He senses guards coming up the stairs, blocking his escape. He groans. _I don't have time to fight them._

He turns back for the window and peers out at the blue sky above and the growing crowd on the street far below. He could make it to the ground safely, but there are too many people. Across the street is another tall building similar to this one. He looks all directions, but can't find anything. He senses the guards coming closer and curses under his breath, then an idea occurs to him. _Better than nothing._

He moves back towards the door and levitates the cash up, just behind his head. He takes a running start for the window and leaps through headfirst, arms tucked close beside him, releasing a charged blast of energy out his hands and feet, propelling him through the air like a missile. He concentrates on the bags of cash, pulling them with him as if they were on a tether.

The building gets larger and larger as he gets closer and closer, flying head first right at its outer wall. He grits his teeth and clenches his fists. _Ohhhh, crap!_

He puts his right fist up and blasts a ball of kinetic energy at the last second. The energy ball breaks through a window and he and the money sail through, slamming into a wall, then falling on top of a dining room table where an elderly couple has just sat down to dinner. The bags fall to the floor.

The couple sit speechless, mouths agape.

Starkiller rolls to his feet and drops a fat stack of his casino winnings on what used to be their evening meal.

"Sorry," he says.

He levitates the bags of money and takes off, looking for their door. A few minutes later, he's reached the street and tries to make his way away from the casino by threading through alleys. He touches his finger to the come in his ear.

"I've made to the street."

"_Where are you?"_ Ahsoka's voice buzzes through his com.

"Heading East through alleys," he says quickly.

"_That wasn't the plan,"_ she scolds.

"It wasn't?"

"_Is the sarcasm really necessary?" _she says. "_Never mind, I've got you on my scanner. Be there shortly."_

He waits at the mouth of the alley, next to a dumpster and waits.

A tan, two seated, open cockpit land speeder halts at the mouth of the alley and Ahsoka appears in the cockpit.

They had planned for Rex to tow the other bike back to the ship and use a model with two seats and a rear compartment for the haul.

She hops out, leaving it idling and opens the rear compartment as he levitates the bags into it.

He hops in the cockpit and checks its systems. He pulls his left sleeve up and looks at his gauntlet; a screen pops on and he sees a top-down view of the city, zoomed in on his location, showing two white dots, indicating he and Ahsoka. He had installed the link between his gauntlet and the Rogue Shadow a few days ago. It allows him to access certain systems of the Shadow's. He zooms out slightly and sees blinking red dots converging from all sides. He feels the speeder shift as Ahsoka slides in the passenger side.

He takes hold of the piloting stick and hammers the throttle, then drops it into gear. The speeder takes off with a vicious lurch, sucking them both into their seats. He keeps the throttle down, accelerating rapidly.

Ahsoka puts her hands on the dash and gasps as the road ends with a giant building looming at the end.

Starkiller jerks the stick to the left and the speeder swerves. They miss the building and enter an alley that was hidden from sight a few seconds ago.

Ahsoka lets out a breath.

"You could have told me!"

"And yet-"

He jerks the wheel again, threading into another alley that Ahsoka hadn't seen.

She leers at him from the passenger side.

"Shouldn't have let you drive," she grumbles.

An idea occurs to Starkiller and he slows down.

"Can you hold the stick for a second?"

"What?"

"Just grab the stick!"

She leans over and takes it from his hands, keeping them going straight through the alley.

He turns and stands on his seat, opening the rear compartment with his mind.

"What are you do- AH!" Ahsoka jerks the stick.

The speeder jerks, but he manages to maintain his balance.

"Sorry," she says.

Finally, he turns back around, holding one bag of cash. He takes the stick and hands the cash to Ahsoka.

"What is this for?" she asks.

He doesn't answer, just slams the throttle back down and jerks the wheel, navigating the speeder onto the road.

"Where are we going?" Ahsoka asks.

"Downtown," he says. "To the market."

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

She crosses her arms, but doesn't push any further.

Minutes later, their approaching the main through-affair of the market.

"Get ready," Starkiller says.

"For what?"

"To throw armfuls of cash into the air."

"That's your plan?" she says.

"NOW!"

She digs her hands into the bag and tosses as much cash as she can and throws it high into the air.

"Keep going," he says. "Empty that bag!"

Starkiller punches a button on the dash and a loud squeal sounds from the speeder, warning people to get out of their way as they drive on sidewalks.

Ahsoka continues to throw cash into the air as they speed past the market's patrons.

Starkiller jerks the stick to avoid a food cart, then jerks it again to avoid a parked speeder, then again to avoid an elderly man.

Ahsoka grumbles and glares while she throws the cash high into the air.

"Look," he says. "Look at them."

She realizes his meaning and turns to check the mirror. She sees people- slaves, gathering cash in the street. Some of them may even be able to purchase their freedom. She turns to Starkiller, mouth agape.

"Wo- AHH!"

Fruit slams against the windshield as Starkiller accidentally clipped a foodcart.

"Oops," he says. "Keep throwing the cash."

She digs in with renewed vigor, throwing it out as fast as she can, as Starkiller doubles back, going on the opposite side of the large market, making sure they get as much cash to as many people as possible.

He risks a glance at his gauntlet. _Time's up._

"They're coming," he says.

Her eyes go wide and she slaps her forehead and curses under her breath, then uses her mind to toss a massive amount of cash into the air, then does it again.

"Bag's empty she says."

He nods and swerves back onto the road. He slams the throttle and punches the horn, exiting the market and getting back on the city streets.

A massive number of speeders appear behind them, getting closer.

"Oh, great," Ahsoka says.

"Don't worry, we'll lose em."

He enters an alley. Sparks fly off both sides of the speeder as its sides scrape against the buildings. They exit the alley with a jolt and he swerves to the right.

"Closer than it looked," he grumbles.

Another group of speeders appear behind them, this one of four.

"Who are they?" Ahsoka says.

"Likely, Rotta's men. The mercs and bounty hunters will be here soon enough though."

The speeders start gaining and he lets them. They get closer, one of them starts shooting, then all start shooting. Starkiller waits until the last possible moment, then swerves right at an intersection. He makes the turn, barely avoiding the row of buildings on his left. The pursuers had not even attempted to make the turn.

He and Ahsoka both breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm gonna drop you off here," he says.

"No!"

"I'll meet you and Rex back at the Shadow."

"No," she says again. "Every time things start to get exciting, you try to ditch me. Well, not this time, pal." She crosses her arms and gives him her best determined face.

He considers his options, meeting her gaze for a brief moment, then looks back to the road.

"I'm not leaving you," she says.

He nods, then hammers down the accelerator.

* * *

_Author's note_

_Hey all, hope life finds you well._

_Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've not given up on this story and will not. Well, that was part eight. What did you all think? Thanks for your patience and I'm terribly sorry for taking so long. I'm fighting a wicked cold, so my attention to detail may not be very good, so if it's full of grammar and spelling mistakes, I'm terribly sorry. _

_If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I love reviews, so please leave me some._

_Alright, time for the thank yous._

_Thank you, OnyxTemplar for the review. The Shaak Ti convo is definitely something that I'm looking forward to writing, but timing is everything._

_Thank you, RKF22 for the review. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, I'll try not to disappoint. _

_Thank you, Ladylunara for the review. Honestly, I'm making it up as I go, lol._

Thank you, gps3 for the review. Wow, thanks, I appreciate that very much. I'll try to update sooner in the future.

Thank you, lycan13 for the review. Here it is! Let me know what you thought of it.

Thank you, Obsidian The Ghost Faced for the review. Your words were very encouraging. Thank you.

You all gave me the motivation that I needed to press on through the block, so thank you all so very much!

Thank you for favoriting, avatar101, ladylunara, NieMisKa, Obsidian The Ghost Faced, dragonupgost, Joseto1945, lord harry peverell, lycan13, onecoolchris, and swemanD47,

and

thank you for following Ben Thryss, Bookreaderninja, ladylunara, NieMisKa, Obsidian The Ghost Faced, Warriorsqueen, dragonupgost, joseto1945, and onecoolchris for following.

You are all awesome!

If I missed your name in the shout-outs, don't hesitate to flame me, lol


	9. Part Nine

He grabs the lightsaber from his left hip and holds it out for her.

"Just in case I can't lose em."

She nods and takes the saber. "Thanks."

The speeder continues to accelerate down the stretch of dirt road.

Starkiller knows that it's only a matter of time before the big guns show up, and when they do, it will not be pretty- for anyone.

He weaves around slow moving traffic, then zips into a wide alley, stealing glances at his gauntlet.

Ahsoka sits forward in her seat, eyes wide.

"Do you hear that?" she says.

They hear a violent humming noise from behind them.

Starkiller cranes his neck as the sound grows closer.

A clone wars era Republic Gunship flies over them at a startlingly low altitude.

"Oh, great. Can this get any worse?" Ahsoka says.

Starkiller spots a speeder entering the alley. It speeds up, driving right next to them. It slams into them, trying to crash them into the buildings on their right. Both fortunately, and unfortunately, the alley opens up wider ahead; fortunately, because it allows them not to be squished into a building like bugs; unfortunately, because it allows the gunship to duck into the alley in front of them, guns firing.

Starkiller speeds up, and swerves madly on the road, driving through clouds of dust and debris.

A man stands up in the speeder, holding a rocket launcher aimed right at Starkiller's speeder.

"You just had to ask," Starkiller says.

The man fires. A purple rocket flies, leaving a trail of white vapor behind it as it flies right for their speeder.

Starkiller slams the breaks, and swerves in an attempt to dodge the shot.

The rocket flies right for them, then changes course slamming into the firing gunship, ripping it from the sky in a ball of fire.

Ahsoka had redirected the rocket with her mind. She holds her hand out, breathing hard, eyes wide.

Starkiller closes in on the other speeder, slamming into them with great force.

The speeders rock at the impact.

Starkiller pushes the stick to the right, away from the speeder, then shoves it left again. They collide with the other speeder, and he keeps the stick angled towards them, keeping the speeders together.

The passenger of the speeder who had fired the rocket, now draws a pistol, sticking it over his door, and partway into Starkiller's cockpit.

He bats the pistol away with his left forearm, then draws his lightsaber, igniting the blue blade with a snap-hiss.

The speeder moves away from them, and Starkiller notices garbage receptacles in their immediate path.

He swerves right, weaving around them, as the other speeder swerves left. They weave around the receptacles, then swerve back into each other with a jostling collision that rattles Starkiller's teeth.

Sparks fly as the vehicles battle for dominance, each pushing into the other at full-turn.

Starkiller lashes out with his blade, but the passenger ducks out of the way.

Ahsoka slams her palm into Starkiller's shoulder.

"Look!" she says.

Starkiller eyes the road to see a tower of smoke, and a large mound of burning metal right in their path. Unless he does something soon, they'll fly right into the gunship they'd shot down. _Perfect._

The mound grows larger as they fly closer and closer at breakneck speeds.

Starkiller pushes the stick for all he's worth. Still, the wreckage is in their direct path. He can feel the fear emanating off the men in the speeder. He puts out his left hand and releases a blast of energy. He gets slight give, but nowhere near enough to get them around the wreckage. A thought occurs to him, and he prays he isn't too late.

His fingertips tingle as he releases lightning from them. The blue electricity shorts the engine of the enemy speeder. He hits the breaks, and releases a charged blast of energy with both hands, sending the enemy hurtling towards the wreckage. Starkiller swerves hard to the left.

His speeder angles to the left, but it flies almost as if being pulled into the flame.

He slams the accelerator full-throttle, then just when he thinks they're going to crash, the enemy speeder crashes. The subsequent explosion releases a shockwave, breaking their momentum, and sending them wide of the wreckage, straight for a building.

He slams the breaks, and swerves right.

Ahsoka screams as the tail makes contact with the building's outer wall. They spark, and screech across the wall, then finally, they come to a complete stop. With a heaving rattle, the engine dies.

Starkiller sits, breathing hard, eyes open and blank.

Ahsoka nods very slowly, eyes staring into nothingness. "Nice. Driving."

He nods, then puts his finger to his ear. "Rex."

"_Yes, sir?"_

"Slight change of plans. Can you get a fix on our location?"

"_Yes, sir. I'm heading your way now. But sir..."_

"What is it?"

"_The Shadow's picking up a lot of activity. Looks like ground forces are heading your way."_

Starkiller checks his gauntlet's display, seeing a lot of moving dots converging in on his location. _Great._

"I see them," he says, looking over the map of the nearby area, noting landmarks and points of interest. "You see the livery stable off of third?"

"_Yes, sir."_

"Meet us there."

"_Roger that, sir."_

Starkiller tries the ignition, but it won't start. He looks over to Ahsoka. "Looks like we're going on foot now."

She nods, and they hop out of the vehicle. Starkiller pops open the cargo hatch and levitates the money out, floating it up behind him like a bunch of balloons tethered to a child.

"Let's go," he says.

"_You have a problem, sir,"_ Rex's voice cuts through the comm.

A drop-ship flies over them, then hovers, letting a group of armored men jump out.

"I see them," Starkiller says.

Ahsoka activates the lightsaber that he had given her. She takes a defensive stance, eying the group in front of them, waiting for them to make a move.

One steps forwards, wearing tan colored Mandolorian era battle armor.

"Surrender," the man says. "Interimo wants you alive- but I'll get paid either way."

His men cock their rifles for emphasis. _This is a well-trained, experienced bounty hunter._

"We don't want to hurt you," Ahsoka says. "Just let us go."

"Last chance," the bounty hunter says.

Ahsoka flings sand into the air with her mind, clouding their vision. Then she's charging at them, blocking bolts without breaking her stride.

Starkiller hadn't quite expected her to be so aggressive. He guesses it shouldn't surprise him, considering who her master was; but still, he assumed she'd be more passive like the other Jedi he's encountered and studied. He watches as she gracefully moves into battle against the larger force.

The bounty hunters scatter, using their jet packs to quickly escape her reach, and surrounding her.

She twirls, flips and spins, blocking bolts and sending them back where they'd come from all the while watching for an opportunity to strike.

With the men distracted by Ahsoka, Starkiller is able to grab a hold of their wrecked speeder, and hurl it into a group of enemies. He shocks it with lightning and it explodes, sending smoke and sand into the air.

A bounty hunter charges at Starkiller, flying right at him with his jetpack.

Starkiller reaches out his hand, shocking him with lightning.

The jetpack malfunctions, catches fire, then soars away in a smoking fireball, taking the bounty hunter with it.

Ahsoka quickly dispatches two more of the group, leaving only the leader.

Starkiller stands on one side, Ahsoka on the other.

The leader points his rifle at Starkiller, then Ahsoka.

"Stay back!" he says.

Ahsoka looks to Starkiller, his jaw set, his eyes on fire, his fists clenched in rage. He starts to raise his hand against the man.

Ahsoka grasps his forearm with her free hand. _What?_

He nearly flinches, then looks over to her, face twisted.

"No," she says softly. "It doesn't have to be this way."

She eyes him steadily, her crystal eyes imploring.

Starkiller swallows, then blinks a few times. "If it's money you want," he starts, his voice edged with rage, "then take it."

A fat stack of cash floats out of one of the bags and lands at the feet of the bounty hunter.

"There's your bounty," Starkiller says.

The hunter eyes it, then Starkiller.

Ahsoka takes Starkiller's arm and tugs him away from the bounty hunter. He walks backwards, following Ahsoka, but keeping his eyes on the bounty hunter until they round a corner into an alley, then he turns and they sprint through the narrow path, then curve left. He checks his gauntlet. More incoming.

"Rooftops," he says.

She nods, then leaps high into the air, leaping off of an adjacent wall, then disappearing on top of the building.

Starkiller takes a breath, then does the same. They travel the rooftops, the bags of cash following close behind them until they reach their desired destination. They spot Rex straddling one of the black speeder bikes, sitting next to their other bike. Rex had brought them both.

They leap from the building, landing directly in front of Rex, who sits on the bike casually.

"What kept you?" he says.

Ahsoka chuckles, then shakes her head. They load up the cash onto Rex's speeder.

Starkiller hops on his bike and starts the engine, Ahsoka comes and sits behind him, wrapping her arms around his midsection.

Starkiller turns back to look at her. She nods, then he hits the accelerator.

Rex follows close behind them as they travel the deserted streets, safely away from the chaos.

* * *

_Author's note_

_Hey, all! It's been way too long! So, so, so sorry about that. Honestly, I'm so sorry. Thank you all for continuing to follow the story, and not getting all fed-up with me._

_Special thanks to Ladylunara for helping me out with my block._

_Thanks Alurae for the review. Glad you love the story. I also wonder..._

_Thank you Obsidian The Ghost Faced for the review. haha, we'll find out soon enough (or so we hope)_

_Thank you Ladylunara for the review. Well, I see what you mean, but Starkiller defeated the Emperor, and Darth Vader. In my mind, he's pretty much the best there ever was. Ahsoka was still pretty much a padawan, or just out of being a padawan when she was frozen, so it's hard for me to think of any force related skill where Ahsoka would have an advantage over Starkiller. That being said, don't judge the story too soon. Ahsoka's role is very important._

_Thank you McKnight93 for the review. I'm so glad you thought it was exciting._

_Hmmm... Seeing more of Anakin's past is an interesting idea that quite frankly, I hadn't thought of. I can definitely see character development out of it. Thanks. I'll see about incorporating it in future chapters._

_Thank you Boondocks23 for the review, and thank you for being with the story since the beginning; it is so appreciated! I don't see many of Starkiller's past "friends" showing up in the story, though I do have plans for a few to come, so keep your eyes peeled._

_Thank you SonOfTheLost for the review. :)_

Thank you AncientDoom for the review and the critique, and the suggestions.

_1. sorry, I try to catch as many mistakes as I can, but am sometimes quite busy. I try to double, and triple check every thing. As for grammar, I just don't know the rules well enough. I try the best I can, but there it is._

_2. Really, this story was more meant to be an adventure, and it actually all started with me just writing it for my little brother. So, I've kept some things "light" on purpose. Though, most the things you mentioned were in fact there; they were just subtle. Such as:_

_-Rex calls everyone sir, lol. In chapter three, I think it was, when Rex and Ahsoka pick up the distress call from the Animus. Ahsoka implores Starkiller to go rescue the ship. Rex even says something like, "it's your ship. Your call, sir." Then it was straight to the Animus to rescue the people, and they found out the children had been taken. Didn't seem logical to have that 'this is my ship, if you wanna stay here, blah, blah, blah' argument there, so after they rescue the kids, they find out about the blockade, Starkiller gives them the 'this is my mission, I aim to fight the tyranny, if you don't want to come along on my quest...' speech._

_-Well, let's be fair, there really isn't any coming back from "He murdered my parents.". There's just nothing you can say to that. She could be all irrational, and choose not to believe him until she sees it for herself, but the plot had bigger fish to fry, and they've clearly seen the state of the galaxy as it is now. As for the mistrust, and investigation. Let's remember that Starkiller still has a few secrets yet to be revealed. And a new Jedi order, and a new Republic. There's gonna be plenty of mistrust to go around._

_Thank you gps3 for the review. Glad you enjoyed the chapter._

_Thank you RKF22 for the review. And thanks for being with the story since the beginning. You don't know how much your reviews have helped keep me writing._

_Thank you OnyxTemplar for the review. :) Thanks._

_Thank you AncientDoom, NecRuler, Sonofthelost, OneWhoRidesAPaleHorse, Ericstpierre, war sage, WildDev, and DEADpyrox for favoriting._

_Thank you zer0123, Nate The Grate, N3phtys, AncientDoom, shadowthief77, NecRuler, Dylan Alexander, Queztionz, Spartanz13, OneWhoRidesAPaleHorse, kreite, Artfuldemon, cj442, Erictpierre war sage, JzeHampen, and DEADpyrox for following..._

_So, that's it for this chapter. What did you think? Please leave me a review, because I love them. What do you all think, should I go a bit more serious? Should I slow things down, or try to keep the pace up? Let me know what you think, and remember: all suggestions are welcome._

_That's it for this chapter. Hope life finds you all well._

_Until next time._

_mojo_


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